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Old Testament ff istoi\y. 



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: AMES B. RAMSEi. D. D., 
r.-z-2srci3:BXj-isQ-, -^r^. 
;;evised a^-d extzxded 

3Y 

Eev. E. L, DAB^TEY, D. D., 

.NlOy THEOLOGICAL SEMINAEY, VIRGINIA. 



.i^CiJBURQ: 

■I, P Bell & Co., Pubi .^ief-, 

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I^IBRARY^TCONGRESST 

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UNITED STATES 01^ A3IERICA. 



QUESTIONS 



ON 



Old Testament History. 



BY 



Rev. JAMES B. RAMSEY, D. D., 



REVISED AND EXTENDED 
BY 

Eev. E, L. DABNEY, D. D., 

UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY^ VIRGINIA, 



TO ^^ J! 



\cy 18T9. qV 



LYNCHBUEG: -— - - 
Bell, Beowne & Co., Steam Power Printers. 
1879. 



IT 






Entered accordiug to act of Cougrese, in year 1879, by 

S. S, RAMSEY, 

in the office of Mie Librarian of Congress at VTashington. 



This volume of Questions on Old Testament 
History was prepared, like its counterpart, " Ques- 
tions on Bible Doctrine," bv the deceased author 
for the instruction of his pupils in a private school. 
The subsequent use of them by other teachers, and 
requests for their publication, proves their adap- 
tedness to meet the wants of pupils in Bible His- 
tory. The study of them should precede the 
Questions on Bible Doctrine, where the mind is 
not already stored with the facts and order of 
events recorded in the Sacred Scriptures. 

We bespeak for them the careful examination of 
any who are in quest of a guide to Bible study, 
whether in the family, Sunday School or literary 
institution. 



By Eev. JAMES B. RAMSEY, D. D. 



LESSON I.— INTRODUCTION. 

THE BIBLE. 

1. Can there be any saving knowledge without 
the Bible? Prov. xxix. 18. 

2. Condition of man without it ? Rom. i. 28-32. 

3. Meaning of reprobate mind in that passage ? 
A mind void of understanding. 

4. The Old Testament consists of how many 
books ? The New Testament ? Written by how 
many authors? How many years from the first 
book to the last ? See Nicholls Introduction to 
the Bible, Amer. S. S. Union, p. 11. 

5. Do these books all agree in their teachings ? 

6. Are their writers then the real authors ? Who 
is? 2 Tim. iii. 15-17. 2 Peter, i. 21. 

7. What are the Scriptures called in Rom. iii. 2? 

8. Meaning of inspiration? 2 Peter i. 21. 

9. What effect had this upon the writers? See 
Nicholls, p. 21. 

10. Principal subject of the Scriptures? 
Redemption. 

11. Their design? John xx. 31. Their power? 
Psalms xix. 7-9. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 5 

12. What is our only rule of faith and practice? 
Isa. viii. 20. What other standards do people 
often have ? Mark vii. 7-9. 2 Cor. x. 12. 

13. Is the Bible the only means of salvation? 
James i. 18. John xvii. 17. Eph. vi. 17. 

14. How should it be studied ? James i. 21, 
22. 1 Peter ii. 1-3. John v. 39 Acts xvii. 11. 
1 Thes. ii. 13. Psalms i. 2. 

15. Why vshould we study it ? 

16. What beautiful promise have we in Psalm 
i. 3 ? To whom addressed ? 

17. What are we taught by God's command to 
the Jews in Deut. xi. 10-20? 

18. Should every part of the Bible be studied? 
Eom. XV. 4. 

19. What if, having learned our duty, we do it 
not? Luke xii. 47. 

20. Sin and danger of adding to and taking 
away from the Bible? Rev. xxii. 18, 19. Prov. 
XXX. 6. 

21. Sin and danger of neglecting it? Prov. i, 
24-31. 



LESSON II.— ENGLISH TRANSLATION. 

THE BIBLE. 

1. In what languages was the Bible originally 
written? See Nichoils, p. 13. 

2. Have these languages long ceased to be 
spoken? Wisdom of God in this? 

Languages in actual use are constantly changing. 



6 QUESTIONS ON 

3. What was the first translation made of any 
part of the Bible? Ans. The Targums, and the 
Septuagint. What were these ? 

4. From what did the writers of the New Tes- 
tament generally quote, when they cited passages 
from the Old Testament ? 

From the Septuagint. 

For what does this account? 

5. What can you tell about the ancient forms 
of books ? Of the sacred books particularly ? 

6. W^hat rendered it impossible for these books 
to have been corrupted or changed in any way 
before Christ? Since Christ? See Nicholls, pp. 
13-15. 

7. How did it come that the New Testament 
should have been written in Greek, rather than 
Hebrew ? What caused the general prevalence of 
the Greek language ? 

Alexander's conquest. 

8. By whom and when was the first English 
translation made? 

By WicklifFe in 1380, from the Latin. 

9. What do you know of other English transla- 
tions? See Nicholls, pp. 141-143. 

10. How was our present version, commonly 
called King James' or the authorized version, 
made ? 

11. Were Bibles very costly in those early 
times, especially before the invention of printing ? 

12. Give some instances of words having changed 
their meaning since our translation was made. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 7 

Gen. xlv. G. Ps. Ixxix. 8. 1 Thes. iv. 15. Rom. 
i. 13. Is. viii. 19. Phil. i. 27. Num. xvi. 30. Ps. 
Iv. 15. Their proper meaning ? Why "his" and 
"hers" instead of "its?" 

13. Origin of the division into chapters and 
yerses? See Home Introduc, Pt. I, Ch. 2, § 3. 

14. What are the marginal readings, the difier- 
ent kinds, and their values ? 

15. W^hy are many words printed in Italics, and 
the word Lord often in capitals ? 

16. Into what three parts did the Jews divide 
the Old Testament? Luke xxiv. 44. 



LESSON III. 



PERIOD I. — FROM THE CREATION TO THE FLOOD, 
1,656 YEARS. 

CREATION.- — Genesis, Chapter i. 

1. How was the v/orld brought into being? How 
long since ? 

6,887 years. 

2. Who is said to have created the world in 
John i. 1-3? 

3. W^hat work of the Spirit mentioned in verse 

2? 

4. Mention the order of creation on the six suc- 
cessive days. Verses 3-28. 

5. How do the various parts of creation display 
the power, the wisdom, the skill and the goodness 
of God? Which more especially show to us the 



8 QUESTIONS ON 

immensity of his power, and which the minuteness 
of his operations ? 

6. Read some passages of the Psalms in which 
the creation and laws of the universe are strik- 
ingly set forth. Ps. xxxiii. 6, 7 ; civ. 19 ; cxlvii. 
4, 7-9; cxlviii. 3-5; Ixxiv. 16. 17; viii. 3, 4. 

7. Do the animal and the vegetable creation 
each present a wide field in which to study the 
mind of God? Ps. civ. 24. 

8. Should his greatness displayed in creation 
lead you to worship Him wdth reverence and fear? 
Psalm xxxiii. 8, 9. Job xxxviii. Is. xl. 12, 26 ; 
xlviii. 13. Jer. x. 12, 13. Amos v. 8 ; iv. 13. Rev. 
iv. 11., xiv. 7. 

9. His crowning w^ork, and that for which all 
the rest was preparatory ? Ps. viii. 6. 

10. For whom does the pronoun '' us" stand in 
verse 26 ? What is meant by " in our image, 
after our likeness?" Eph. ii. 10; iv. 24. Coh 
iii. 4. 

11. Of w^hat did God make the body of man ? 
How did man become a living soul ? Chapter ii. 
7. Is his immortality here implied ? 

12. Man's dominion ? 

13. What did God give to him for food ? Verse 
29. 

14. God's judgment of everything that He had 
made? Verse 31. 

15. Does this lesson teach us our entire depen- 
dence on God, our ignorance, and our guilt and 
folly in neglecting Him and His commands? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 9 

LESSON IV. 

PARADISE. — Genesis, Chapter ii. 

1. What was the garden of Eden? Where? 
Meaning of Eden ? Paradise ? 

Eden means 'pleasure. Paradise, an enclosed pleasure- 
garden, and thence Heaven. Eden is supposed to have 
been in Mesopotamia, but the flood has covered all marks 
of it. 

2. Man's occupation in it? Teaches what? 2 
Thes. iii. 10. 

3. What two institutions of Paradise have sur- 
vived the fall? Man's first Sabbath? Gen. ii. 
3,24. 

4. Man's character and relations to God then? 
Eccles. vii. 29. 

5. How do you show the extent of his knowl- 
edge? Gen. 11. 15-20. 

6. Does the command given him there neces- 
sarilv involve a covenant ? Its conditions ? Gen. 
iL 16-17. 

7. Why is it called a covenant of works, and of 
life? Rom. iv. 4. and x. 5. 

8. Trees of knowledge of good and evil, and of 
life, why so called ? 

9. In order to teach that obedience and disobe- 
dience were the only good and evil, was it not 
necessary that the thing prohibited should be in 
itself harmless ? 

10. How was God's goodness shown in the cove- 
nant ? 



10 QUESTIONS ON 

Hence God was kind and liberal in giving man so good 
an opportunity of glory in their lirst fiither. 

11. Had he kept it, what would have been the 
result ? 

Had Adam fulfilled the covenant all would have been 
adopted in him. 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22, 45. 

12. Had no such covenant been made, what 
must have been the condition of Adam and his 
posterity ? 

Men would always have been servants, liable to be 
punished if they sinned, and never endowed with an 
adoption of life. Luke xvii. 10. 

13. Shall Paradise be restored ? In what sense ? 
Rev. ii. 7., xxii. 2, 14. 

14. How? Its future security? Rev. xxi. 6, 7. 



LESSON V. 



THE FALL. THE TEMPTATION. — Gen., Ch. iii. 

1. In what class of beings did sin originate? 
John viii. 44. 

2. Can we tell how or why it was permitted ? 
Matt. xi. 26. 

3. What do we know of the fall of angels ? 2 
Peter ii. 4. Jude 6. 

4. Have fallen angels a leader or prince, to 
whom as such all their evil is attributed ? Eph. 
ii. 2. 

5. Is it evident from the narrative itself that 
the tempter could not have been a mere serpent? 
Who then must it have been -' Rev. xii. 9. John 
viii. 44. 



OLD TESTA M ENT HISTORY. 1 1 

6. In what three things does his temptation of 
Eve mark all temptation ? Verses 1, 4, 5. 

7. To what natural desire was it addressed? 
What should we learn from this? Eccles. vii. 16. 

8. How w^as its progress marked in Eve '^ Her 
first fatal error? Verse 6, first clause. 

9. How did the tempter compass xldam's ruin ? 
Verse 6. 

10. Had they really sinned before they ate ? 

11. Immediate effects on both? Verses 7, 8. 

12. Meaning of the death threatened? In what 
sense and to what degree at once fulfilled ? 

Spiritual death began. 

13. What does Adam's fall teach us? 1 Cor. x, 
12. 

14. How do the excuses of Adam and Eve show 
the virulence and folly of sin? Verses 10-13. 

15. Upon w^honi did the curse pronounced upon 
the serpent really fall'? How^ far did it involve 
the serpent itself? Justice of this? 

16. Is there not an evident propriety that the 
curse upon the invisible but real tempter should be 
expressed in terms applicable to the visible form 
he assumed or employed ? As applied to him, 
what does it mean ? Heb. ii. 14. 1 John iii. 8. 

17. Meaning of each clause in verse 15 ? How 
must our first parents have regarded this '? The 
importance of this passage, and its relation to all 
succeeding historv, prophecy and promise ? Rev. 
xii. 9. 

18. Does it appear that the gospel was made 
known to our first parents before the curse vras pro- 



12 QUESTIONS ON 

nounced upon them ? and hence that all here, ev^en 
the working of the curse, is subordinate to redemp- 
tion ? 

19. The curse upon the woman, how fulfilled 
in her condition in heathen lands ? 

20. The curse of evil, how does it restrain the 
sin it punishes? Verse 19. 

21. What proof have you in all this that the 
covenant was made with Adam not only for him- 
self but for his posterity? Rom. v. 12. 

LESSON VI. 

THE FALL. — THE CONSEQUENCES. — Gen., Ch. iii. 

1. Is Adam's sin imputed to his posterity? 
Meaning of this? Its connection with the doc- 
trine that Adam was our representative ? 

2. Proof of all this from this account of the fall, 
from oiher scriptures and from facts? 1 Cor. xv. 
22. Rom. v. 12-19. 

3. Consequences of the sin of our first parents 
to all their posterity? Shorter Catechism, Ques- 
tions 17, 18, 19. 

4. May not all be summed up in two things, 
condemnation and corruption or depravity? 

5. Are we all born in a state of sin and condem- 
nation ? Eph. ii. 3. 

6. What fact does the Apostle bring to prove 
this in Rom. v. 14? Meaning of " figure " there? 
Bow w^as Adam a type of Christ? Verses 18, 19 
of same chapter. 

7. What other dreadful consequence has fol- 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 13^ 

lowed besides our condemnation? Gen. vi. 5. ; viii. 
21. Ps. li. 5. Rom. viii. 7. 

8. How is total depravity consistent with the 
social virtues which w^e find in unrenewed men ? 
Rom. iii. 18. Luke xviii. 22-24. 

9. Does this depravity render us totally helpless ? 
Jer. xvii. 9,; xiii, 23. John vi. 44. Eph. iii. 1. 

10. How does John iii. 3, prove this doctrine? 

11. How does Christian experience prove it ? 
Rom. vii. 15-23. Gal. v. 17. How ought we to 
feel under it ? Rom. vii. 24. 

Adam's faith and hope. — Gen. iii. 20, &c. 

12. Is it evident that Adam, in giving the name 
Eve, i. e. Life, to his wife, immediately after they 
had lost life and been sentenced to death, had 
special reference to the promise of a deliverer in. 
verse 15? 

13. Is even the temporal life of the race the 
result of the plan of redemption ? 

14. What evidence here then of Adam's faith 
and hope ? 

15. What other ground had he for his faith 
and hope to rest upon beside the naked promise ? 
Verse 21. 

16. Evidence that sacrifices w^ere instituted by 
God at this time ? Gen. iv. 4. Heb. xi. 4. 

17. Did sacrifice set forth to them both death 
and life, the justice and the mercy of God ? 

18. Great essential truth taught by sacrifice ? 



14 QUESTIONS ON 

Heb, ix. 22. Meaning of atonement ? Its neces- 
sity ? Heb. ix. 22. 

19. Must the promise of verse 15, and this 
striking typical institution, have mutually ex- 
plained each other? 

20. Does not verse 21 illustrate another spiritual 
truth connected with atonement, the result of 
sacrifice? Rev. xix. 8. 

21. Were not all the types and shadows of the 
ceremonial law given by Moses only the fuller 
explanation of the nature and design of sacrifice? 
Did not Adam, and those who had his immediate 
teaching, need this less than his later posterity? 

Yes, because they were near Paradise and its relations. 



LESSON VII. 

Adam's expulsion in norE — Gen. iii. 22, &c. 

1. Does the first clause of verse 22 evidently 
refer to the tempter's deceitful promise in verse 5 ; 
and was it not evidently designed and adapted to 
deepen the impression of their guilt and folly ? 

2. What had they now learned in regard to good 
and evil by bitter experience, that the tree of 
knowledge itself ought to have taui^ht ? Jer. 
ii. 19. 

3. What have the wisest philosophers of all 
ages sought after as the verv highest knowledge ? 
Eccles. ii. 3 ; last half, 12,*^ 13. What did God 
teach man, at his very creation, to be the highest 
good and evil ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 15 

4. Does not verse 22 intimate that the tree of 
life was not a mere arbitrary symbol, but an ac- 
tual means of perpetuating life to the obedient, 
and hence an appropriate pledge of immortality? 

5. What is taught by their expulsion from it 
and from the garden ? Rom. vi. 23. Eph. ii. 8, 9. 

5. Design of the cherubim and flaming sword ? 
Does ''to keep " imply to preserve the tree and the 
way to it, as well as to prevent access to it by the 
unworthy ? 

7. If man had been forever excluded from life, 
for what should that tree have been kept ^ Was 
not the expulsion then accompanied with implied 
promise of restoration ? 

8. Were the cherubim real angels, or symbolical 
representations of redeemed men ? 

9. What are w^e taught by comparing the 1st 
and 10th chapters of Ezekiel together, (noting 
especially chapter x. 20,) as to their /orm ? 

10. Are the " living creatures " or " beasts," as 
there unfortunately translated, of Rev. iv. 6-9, 
evidently the same ? 

11. Do they always appear in connection with 
the throne or presence of God w^herever they are 
mentioned ? whether in the temple, as in Ez. and 
Rev. ? or in Ps. xviii. 10, Ixxx. 1, xcix. 1 ? 

12. Is not their design in all cases to show forth 
God's glory ? Compare Eph. iii. 10. 

13. What song do they sing in Rev. v. 9 ? 

14. Can they then be anything else but symbols 
of redeemed and perfected humanity — of the per- 
fected Church '^ 



16 QUESTIONS ON 

15. Were not thoir forms those of the highest 
binds of creature life on earth, and hence appro- 
priate symbols of the complete creature perfection 
of redeemed man ? John x. 10. 

16. Were such symbols the very best way to 
teach these things at first ? Most in harmony 
with the symbolic teaching of atonement by sacri- 
fice? 

17. Does not the possession of Paradise by them, 
when man w^as expelled, beautifully teach that it 
and the tree of life were reserved for man re- 
deemed and glorified by grace? 



LESSON VIII. 

CAIN AND ABEL. — Gen. iv. 1-16. 

1. Meaning of ''Cain?''' Ans. Acquired. What 
does the giving of it imply in reference to the 
promise in chapter iii. 15? Was not this first 
birth a pledge at least of its fulfillment ? 

2. Meaning of Abel? Ans. Mourning. Why 
so called probably ? Eccles. vi. 3, 4. 

3. What may we infer from the phrase, ^' in pro- 
cess of time'' (in the end of days) as to their 
stated times of worship ? Gen. ii. 3. 

4. Is it not clear from some phrases in verses 14 
and 16, that there was some place where God's 
presence was specially manifested and he publicly 
worshipped ? Where probably ? Paradise gate. 

5. Forms of their worship ? Proof here of di- 
vine origin of sacrifice? Heb. xi. 4. Levit. xvii. 
11. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 17 

6. Must there have been some out ward sign of 
acceptance of Abel ? Verses 4, 5. 

7. What rendered his offering alone accepted ? 
Heb. xi. 4. Object and nature of his faith ? John 
i. 36. 

8. How was his faith shown in the matter of his 
offering? And how Cain's want of faith? What 
other defect did Cain's offering show? Cause of 
Cain's anger — of men's discontent with God's deal- 
ings still ? See Prov. xix. 3. 

9. Meaning of "sin lieth at the door?" Heb, 
iii. 12. 

10. How are Cain and Abel the types of the 
two great classes of all worshippers still ? 

11. Cause of this first murder? 1 John iii. 12. 

12. Meaning of last clause of verse 15 ? 

The word rendered ''mark'^ is just the same as that in 
Is. vii. 14, and elsewhere translated " sign f and the whole 
phrase is better translated, " appoint to Cain a sign, that 
no one,'' &c. 

13. How does this narrative illustrate and ful- 
fill the prediction of chapter iii. 15 ? How does 
it seem to conflict with it ? Why is evil permitted 
to triumph ? 

LESSON IX. 

THE ANTEDILUVIAN CHUECH AND APOSTACY. 

Gen. iv. and v. 

1. About what time was Abel's death ? B. 0. 
3875. 

2 



18 QUESTIONS ON 

2. Might there not have been many thousands 
alive then r* 

3. When did the visible church begin ? Ch. 
iv. 4, 26. 

4. What was the chief severity of Gain's pun- 
ishment ? Ch. iv. 13, 14. 

5. What did God thus early show concerning 
his church ? Zech. ii. 8. 

6. Even after the fall, from the first, was it not 
impossible, through the merciful provisions of God, 
for men to become openly" wicked and be cast oft', 
until they had rejected the redemption provided? 

7. In whose family was the church perpetuated ? 
Meaning of Seth ? Ans. Substituted. In what 
sense did he bear the image of Adam ? Compare 
verses 1 and 3 of chapter v. 

8. Diff'erence in the genealogies of Cain and 
Seth ? Evident design of Scripture history ? 

9. For what were Cain's posterity distinguished ? 
What do you learn from this of the value of mere 
worldly knowledge ? 

10. Meaning of Lamech's song to his wives? 

*' To my wounding^' and *^to my hurt," in verse 23, 
should be translated '^ on account of wounding me,'^ and 
*'on account of hurting me." It is a bold justification of 
a cruel revenge, by impiously pleading God's preservation 
of Cain. 

11. What are the only things recorded of Seth's 
posterity, beside their ages ? Ch. iv. 25 ; v. 22-24, 
28, 29. What more do we learn of Enoch in 
the New Testament? Jude 14, 15. Hebrew 
xi. 5. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 19 

12. Advantages and evils of the great length 
of human life ? 

Transmission of knowledge and progress in arts, &c. , 
with daring ungodliness. Adam was contemporary with 
Methuselah 243 years, and 56 years with Lamech. Methu- 
selah 100 years with Shem, and Shem 50 years with Isaac. 

13. Some important truths taught by' this his- 
tory ? 

Strong tendency of mankind to sin. Yet God never 
leaves sinners without witness. 



LESSON X. 

PERIOD II — FROM THE DELUGE TO THE CALL OF 

ABRAHAM — ABOUT 400 YEARS. 

DELUGE. — Gen., Ch. vi. and vii 

1. Cause of the deluge? Ch. vi. 5-7, 11-13. 
In what sense is God said to repent and grieve ? 
I Sam'l, XV. 29. 

2. Whv did God permit sin thus to triumph ? 

3. One special cause of this prevalence of in- 
iquity ? Deut. vii. 3, 4. (Sons of God, who ? 
Giants, who ?) Ch. vi. 4 ; Job xvi. 14. 

4. What means had been used to restrain it ? 

The symbols and ordinances of worship, the teachings 
of Adam, preaching and translation of Enoch, and preach- 
ing of Xoah, and striving of God's Spirit. 

How does the Spirit strive ? Why does he 
cease ? 

5. What further respite did he grant ? Its 
effect ? Ch. vi. 3. 

6. To what was the Church at length reduced ? 
Ch. vi, 12-18. 



20 QUESTIONS ON 

7. Character of Noah ? Compare II Peter, 
ii. 5. In what sense perfect ? Compare Gen. vii. 1. 

8. What made him so holy amid universal wick- 
edness ? Heb. xi. 7. 

9. Design of the flood ? Deliverance of the 
Church. 

10. How did God preserve his Church ? Ch. 
vi, 14. 

11. Describe the ark ? Its size ? Capacity ? 
300 cub. I.x50w.x30h. Cap. 43,313 tons. A first- 
class man-of-war about 2,300 tons. Ark = 18 of 
these, capable of carrying 20,000 men, stores for 
six months, and 1,800 pieces of cannon. A vessel 
built by P. Jansen, at Hoorn, 1809, capable of 
carrying one-third more freight than other vessels 
of same tonnage, being built on model of the ark. 

12. Who and what were admitted into it ? 
Gen. vi. 18-21. What time was given them to 
enter ? (Meaning of clean animals '/) 

13. When all had entered in, what did the Lord 
do for Noah, and what to the earth ? Ch. 
vii. 16, 

14. In w^hat year of Noah and of the w^orld was 
this ? Ch. vii. 6. 

About the last of October, 17th of 2d civil month, 2349. 

15. Evidence here of a family covenant ? of a 
Sabbath ? Ch. vi. 18 and vii. 4-10. 

16. To what is Noah's salvation compared in 
I Peter iii. 20, 21 ? 

17. Of what was this destruction of the old 
world and the deliverance of Noah a type ? Matt, 
xxiv. 37-40, &c. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 21 

LESSON XI. 

THE DELUGE, OR THE WORLD RESTORED. 

Gen. viii. and ix. 

1. Evidence that the flood was universal ? Gen. 
vii. 19. 

2. Have nearly all nations tradition of it ? See 
especially Chaldean history of it from monuments 
of Nineveh. 

3. When did it begin to abate ? Gen. vii. 24. 

4. When and where did the ark rest ? When 
was that '^ Ch. viii. 3-5. 

5. What did Noah do to ascertain when the 
waters were dried up ? Ch. viii. 7. 

6. What do you infer from the frequent observ- 
ance of the period of seven days ? 

That Noah kept the Sabbath in the ark. See Ch. 
viii. 10-12. 

7. Did he leave the ark till commanded by 
God ? How long was he in it ? What proof 
here of his strong faith ? His patient waiting 
after so long confinement, and even after the earth 
seemed dried up ? Ch. viii. 14. 

8. His first act on leaving it ? Ch. viii. 20. 
What does his example teach ? 

9. By what great promise and striking reason 
for it is God's acceptance of his offering declared ? 
Verses 21, 22. 

10. Does not this teach that the stability of the 
course of nature is the result of Christ's atone- 
ment? 



22 QUESTIONS ON 

11. How is this promise enlarged and confirmed 
in Ch. ix. 8-17? 

12. Is not the goodness of God strikingly shown 
in it ? 

13. Was there any rainbow before the flood ? 
Of what is it used as a symbol in Ez. i. 28, and 
Eev. iv. 3? Compare Gen. ii. 6. 

14. In the blessing pronounced on Noah and 
his sons at this time, in Ch. ix. 1-7, what is there 
of lasting interest in regard to the lower animals, 
to food, and to human life ? Why blood forbid- 
den ? Lev. xvii. 11. 

15. Is it not manifest that this covenant and 
blessing of Noah is but a result of the great 
covenant of grace, and regards redemption as its 
end ? Isa. vi. 13. 



LESSON XII. 

noah's prophecy. — Gen. ix. 18-27. 

1. Noah's occupation on leaving the ark, and 
his sin? Verses 20, 21. 

2. Why is the conduct of his sons so particularly 
recorded ? 

Though trivial in itself, it showed tendencies the full 
development of which were the accomplishment of God's 
purposes in the whole future history of the world, and 
hence became a fitting occasion for this comprehensive 
revelation to Noah, for the sustaining and directing of the 
faith and hope of the Church. Verses 22, 23. 

3. Design of the prophetic curse and blessings 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 23 

pronounced by Noali on his sons, and connection 
between them and their condnct? 

They were not an expression of Noah's feelings so 
much as of God's purposes in regard to the fulfilhnent of 
his first great promise of the seed of the woman ; and 
the announcement of these things on this occasion was a 
suitable punishment and reward to the parents. V^erses 
24-27. 

4. Why was the curse pronounced on Canaan, 
instead of on Ham hin:self? Its meaning and 
fulfillment? 

Because it pleased God to reveal then only the fortunes 
of this one branch of Ham's descendants, and this one 
because of its peculiar relation to the Jewish people. It 
is remarkable that some of the rest of Ham's descendants 
were those who were permitted to hold the Jews most in 
bondage. 

5. Meaning and fulfillment of Shem's blessing? 
Ps. cxliv. 15. Kom. ix. 4, 5. 

6. Meaning and fulfillment of Japheth's bless- 
ing. Compare Isaiah liv. 2. 

7. May not parents, by their spirit and conduct, 
fix the tendency and fate of their descendants for 
ages ? 

8. Are not parents often rewarded or punished 
in their children ? 

9. Is it not observable that at the very first 
intimation of the restriction of covenant privileges 
to a portion of the race, God made known the fact 
that this was in order to their universal diff'usion? 
Verse 27. 

10. Is there any intimation here given of Ham's 
descendants being admitted to these privileges? 
Ps. Ixviii. 31. 



24 QUESTIONS ON 

11. What important connection between this 
prophecy and the table of the origin of nations in 
chapter x. ? 

The descent of the different races verifies the prophecy. 



LESSON XIII. 



ORIGIN AND DISPERSION OF THE NATIONS. 

Gen., Gh. x. and xi. 

1. Design of this table of the origin of nations? 

To enable us to verify the fulfillment of the prophecy 
just given in chapter ix. 25-27. 

2. What nations sprung from Japheth ? Mean- 
ing of " iles of the Gentiles," in verse 5. 

3. What nations sprung from Ham? Why is 
Nimrod so particularly mentioned ? 

Nimrod may be regarded as the father of despotic rule 
and of heathenism. 

Why is Assliur of Shem's race mentioned here ? 

Probably because Nimrod drove him out, usurping his 
first dwelling. 

4. What nations sprung from Shem ? Why 
called the father of the children of Eber? 

Because to these belonged the people of God, the He- 
brews, called from him ; and from him rather than any 
other of the children of Shem, because he, living at the 
time of the confusion of tongues, (see verse 25,) was evi- 
dently the leader of that division of the race that spoke 
the Hebrew language. ^'All the children of Eber" is 
all who speak the Hebrew language, including the de- 
scendants of Joktan. 

5. Is not this a full proof of the unity of the 
human race ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 25 

6. How was this division actually brought 
about? Ch. xi. 1-9. 

7. Design of the Babel builders. 

8. Why was it necessary that the descendants 
of Noah's three sons should be kept separate ? 

In order that, by verifyiDg the prediction concerning 
Shem, &c., the faith of God's people might be confirmed, 
and the Messiah, when he should come, be identified. 

9. By whom and w^hen was this attempt made ? 
Ch. X. 25, compared with xi. 16. 

10 What are we to understand by God's con- 
founding their language. 

11. Can we account for the vast diversity of 
languages, together with their many marks of a 
common origin, but in this way ? 

12. Illustrations of this narrative froni natural 
and profane history and the ruins of that country ? 

13. Has not the whole history of Babylon been 
in accordance with the design of its founders ? 
Application of name in New Testament ? 

To Antichrist. 

14. Has not the lust of glory and dominion, 
like Nimrod's, been ever the world's greatest curse 
and the Church's greatest enemy ? 

15. Does the very opposition of men work out 
the purposes of God ? 

Nothing short of such a confusion of their languages 
could have kept the nations sufliciently distinct. 



26 QUESTIONS ON 

LESSON XIV. 

Abraham's ancestry. — Oh. xi. 

1. How long did Noah live after the flood? At 
what age did he die? Ch. ix. 28, 29. 

2. How long did Shem live after the flood? At 
what age did he die? Ch. xi. 10, 11. 

3. How many generations from Shem to Abra- 
ham? Verses 10-26. 

4. Was Shem, any portion of his Ife, contempo- 
rary with Abraham ? Calculate verses 10-26. 

5. Through what two persons might information 
have been conveyed from Adam to Abraham? 

Methuselah and Shem. 

6. Can you show how this was? Calculate Ch. 
v. 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25, 28 and 32; Ch. vii. 
11 ; Ch. ix. 28, 29, with Ch. xi. 10, 26. 

7. Had they a written revelation, and was it 
necessary ? 

8. Were the lives of men gradually shortening 
from the deluge till Abraham's time? 

9. Who was the grandfather, and who was the 
father of Abraham ? His native country ? Were 
they idolaters? Joshua xxiv. 2. 

10. What is told of his family ? 

11. Does it appear that idolatry was practiced 
very early after the flood ? 

12. Was it thus proved that in order to keep 
the true knowledge of God, there must be a visible 
church ? 

13. How long was it from the flood to the call 
of Abraham? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 27 

LESSON XV. 

PERIOD III. — FROM THE CALL OF ABRAHAM T0» 
THE DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT, 430 YEARS. 

Abraham's call and history to the covenant. 
Chapters xii.-xiv. 

1. What step had God taken towards the estab- 
lishment of a visible church ? Ch. xii. 1, 2. 

2. To what place did Abraham first remove ? 
Ch. si. 31. 

3. What happened here ? Ch. xi. 32. 

4. What promise had God given to Abraham ? 
Ch. xii, 3. 

5. How w^ere all the families of the earth to be 
blessed in him ? Gal. iii. 8, 16. 

6. How old was Abraham when he left Haran ? 
Ch. xii. 4. 

7. Who accompanied him to Canaan ? Ch. xii. 5, 

8. To what place did he first come, and v/hat 
occurred there ? Ch. xii. 6, 7. 

9. Where did he next pitch his tent ? Verse 8, 

10. What was his first act w^herever he en- 
camped. Ch. xii. 8, and xiii. 4. 

11. What occurred next, to try Abraham's faith? 
Ch. xii. 10. 

12. Tell what occurred in Egvpt. Ch. xii, 
11-19. 

13. What do w^e learn from Abraham's conduct 
here ? I Kings, viii. 46. 

14. What is said of Abraham's wealth ? Ch, 
xiii. 2. 



28 QUESTIONS ON 

15. What was the result of it ? Oh. xiii. 6. 

16. Tell what was right and noble in Abra- 
ham's conduct on this occasion ? Ch. xiii. 8, 9. 

17. What was wrong in Lot's conduct ? Ch. xiii. 
10, 13. 

18. What does this teach us ? 
^ot to prefer wealth to godliness. 

19. Wliat promise did God immediately after 
this give to Abraham? Ch. xiii. 15, 16. 

20. Where did Abraham next dwell ? Ch. xiii. 
18. 

21. How^ did Lot fare on account of his worldly- 
choice? Ch. xiv. 12. 

22. Give an account of this war, the first recorded 
in history. Ch. xiv. 1-11. 

23. Tell how Lot was rescued ? Ch. xiv. 12-16. 

24. Relate particularly the remarkable event 
^hich occurred as Abraham returned. Ch. xiv. 
18, 19. 

25. What is said of Melchizedek in Heb. vii. 
1, 2, 3 ? Of whom was he a type. Ps. ex. 4. 

26. What is meant by Heb. vii. 3 ?. 

No genealogy of him is preserved in Scripture. 

27. How did Abraham show his prudence and 
generosity on this occasion ? 



LESSON XVI. 



THE COVENANT, HAGAR AND ISHMAEL, CIRCUM- 
CISION. — Ch. xv.-xvii. 
1. How did God encourage Abraham after the 
rescue of Lot? Ch. xv. 1. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 29 

2. What cause of anxiety had he, and how did 
God remove it? Ch. xv. 2, 3, 4. 

3. Why did God regard him as righteous? Ch. 
XV. 6. 

4. How did God confirm his covenant with 
Abraham at this time ? What was the design of 
this covenant? Verse 18. Ch. xv. 8-17. 

5. Whom did Sarah give to Abraham as a sec- 
ondary wife ? Ch. xvi. 1-4. 

6. What occurred to her during her flight from^ 
her mistress? Ch. xvi. 7-12. 

7. What prediction did the angel of the Lord! 
give concerning her son ? Ch. xvi, 10-12. 

8. Who was this angel of the Lord? (Compare- 
verses 9, 10, 13.) Messiah. 

9. How old was Abraham when Ishmael wa& 
born ? Ch. xvi. 16. 

10. Thirteen years after this, what covenant did' 
God make with Abraham ? Ch. xvii. 1-14. 

11. How was Abraham to be made a father of 
many nations, and who are his seed in the sense- 
of the promises here made ? Rom. iv. 16, 17, and 
Gal. iii. 29. 

12. What was the seal of the covenant, and did 
it seal to them spiritual as well as external and 
temporal blessings? Ch. xvii. 11., Rom. iv. 11. 

13. Was not this the first organization of a 
visible church ? Were infants thus made members- 
of it ? Has this right ever been taken from them ? 
Ch. xvii. 9-12. 

14. Why were Abram's and Sarai's names 
changed to Abraham and Sarah ? Ch. xvii. 5, 15. 



30 QUESTIONS ON 

15. Promise given in regard to Ishmael ? Ch. 
xvii. 20. 

16. What promise was now given to Abraham 
of another son ? His name ? Ch. xvii. 19. 

17. How long after this was Isaac born ? Ch. 
xxi. 5. 



LESSON XVII. 

DESTRUCTION OF SODOM. — Ch. XVlii.-XX. 

1. What happened in the meantime? Ch. xviii. 1. 

2. Who appeared to Abraham, and for what 
purpose ? Ch. xviii. 10. 

3. Why did God reveal his purpose of destroy- 
ing Sodom to Abraham ? Ch. xviii. 18, 19. 

4. How did Abraham receive the three men 
that came to him ? Who were they ? Ch. xviii. 
13, and Ch. xix. 1. 

5. How did Abraham try to save Sodom ? Ch. 
xviii. 23. 

6. What does this teach us ? Jas. v. IG. 

7. How^ many righteous men would have saved 
Sodom ? Ch. xviii. 32. What does this teach us ? 
Matt. v. 13. 

8. W^hat became of Sodom and the other cities 
of the plain ? Eepeat Jude 7, Ch. xix. 24. 

9. Who were saved / How '! Ch. xix. 15, 16. 

10. What facts are related to show the great 
wickedness of the people ? Ch. xix. 9-11. 

11. Wliat became of Lot's wufe ? Ch. xix. 26. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 31 

12. What does this teach ? Luke xvii. 32. 

13. How were Lot's warnings regarded by his 
sons-in-law ? What became of them ? Ch. xix. 14. 

14. What does their fate teach us? Heb. iii. 
12. 

15. Did Lot gain anything by his choosing this 
rich country ? 

16. Does not Lot's moral character seem to have 
suffered from his living in such wicked society ? 
Ch. xix. 33. 

17. What nations descended from Lot ? Ch. 
xix. 37, 38. 

18. Where did Abraham go after the destruc- 
tion of these cities? Ch. xx. 1. 

19. What and where are Kadesh, Shur, and 
Gerar. See Nicholl. 

20. What wrong did Abraham do there ? 
Why ? Ch. XX. 2-5. 

21. Why did Abimelech restore to Abraham 
his wife ? " Ch. xx. 7, 8. 

22. What invitation did he give him ? Ch. xx. 
15. 



LESSON XVIII. 

PROMISE FULFILLED. — Ch. Xxiii. 

1. How old was Abraham and Sarah when 
Isaac was born ? Ch. xxi. 5. 

Sarah, eighty-seven years. 

2. How old was Ishmael ? 
Fourteen years. 



32 QUESTIONS ON 

3. What did Sarah ask Abraham to do to Hagar 
and Ishmael ? Why ? Oh. xxi. 10. 

4. What sin is here meant by mocking? Must 
it not have included ridicule of the promises of a 
Saviour to come of Isaac's posterity? 

5. What did God direct Abraham to' do, and 
what did he do with Hagar and Ishmael ? 

6. What occurred to Hagar in the w^ilderness 
after her departure ? Oh. xxi. 14-19. 

7. What did Ishmael become, and where did he 
dwell ? Where was this ? Ch. xxi. 21. 

8. What occurrea with Abimelech that showed 
Abraham's greatness ? Ch. xxi. 23. 

9. What happened at Beersheba that gave it its 
name ? Ch. xxi. 25-31. Meaning of this name ? 

The well of the oath. 

TRIAL OF ABRAHAM ^S FAITH : DEATH OF SARAH. 

Ch. xxii, xxxiii. 

10. How^ did God tempt Abraham ? Meaning 
of tempt? Ch. xxii. 1, 2. 

11. How do you reconcile Jas. i. 13 with this? 

12. What did Abraham do? Ch. xxii. 3. 

13. Eelate what passed between Abraham and 
Isaac ? Ch. xxii. 7, 8. 

14. By what was Abraham actuated ? Heb. xi. 
17. 

15. How was Abraham prevented from offering 
Isaac? Ch. xxii. 11, 12. 

16. What promises were then made to Abra- 
ham ? Ch. xxii. 17, 18. 



OLD TESTAxMEXT HISTORY. 33 

17. AVho is meant by the seed spoken of in 
whom all nations should be blessed ? Gal. iii. 16. 

18. What does Abraham's trial teach us? 

19. Where was Mount Moriah, the sceiie of this 
transaction ? 

20. Where did Sarah die, and at what age? 
Where was Hebron ? Ch. xxiii. 1, 2. 

21. Where was she buried? Ch. xxiii. 19. 

22. Tell how Abraham obtained possession of 
this burying place ? Ch. xxiii. 7-18. 

23. What may you learn from this passage of 
the money of that time ? 

It was not coined. 

24. How old w^ere Abraham and Isaac at this 
time ? 

One hundred and forty years, and forty years. 



LESSON XIX. 



Isaac's maekiage, Ch. xxiv., and Abraham's 

DEATH, Ch. XXV., XXvi. 

1. Whom did Abraham send to take a wife for 
Isaac ? Ch. xxiv. 2, xv. 2. 

2. To what country and city did he send him, 
and to whose kindred ? Ch. xxiv. 4. 

3. What relation w^as Nahor to Abraham ? Ch. 
xxii. 20. 

4. What plan did the servant adopt to obtain 
his object ? Ch. xxiv. 10-14. 

3 



34 QUEvSTIONS ON 

5. Who met him at the well ? Her father ? 
Grandfather ? Ch. xxiv. 15. 

6. What relation was Bethuel to Isaac ? W"ho 
was Laban ? Ch. xxiv. 29. 

7. What presents did the servant give Rebekah ? 
Value of a shekel '.^ 

Fifty cents. 

8. How was he received ? Ch. xxiv. 29-32. 

9. What did they say when the servant had 
told his errand ? Ch. xxiv. 50. 

10. What did Eebekah say, and what the 
result ? Ch. xxiv. 58-67. 

11. What does this narrative teach us concern- 
ing God's providence ? Prov. iii. 6. 

12. Where was Isaac when Rebekah arrived, 
and why there ? Age of Isaac ? 

Forty years. 

13. Whom did Abraham marry after Sarah's 
death ? How many sons had she ? Ch. xxv. 1-4. 

14. Whom did Abraham make his heir ? Ch. 
xxv. 5. 

15. What did he give his other sons ? Ch. 
xxv. G. 

16. How old was Abraham when he died ? Ch. 
xxv. 7. 

17. Who buried him, and where ? Ch. xxv. 9. 

18. What is said of Ishmael's sons ? Where 
did thev dwell ? Ch. xxv. 12-18. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 35 

19. Who ^vere Isaac's sons ? Cli. xxv. 23-26. 

20. What ^vere their respective characters ? 
Ch. xxv. 27. 

21. Give an account of Esau's despising his 
birth-right ? What was thi>^ birth-right, and what 
the sin of despising it ? Ch. xxv., 29-34 ; Heb. 
xii. 16. 

22. Wliv did Isaac go to Gerar ? Ch xxvi. 1. 

23. How was the promise then confirmed ? Ch. 
xxvi. 2-5. 

24. Of what sin was he guilty ? Ch. xxvi. 7. 

25. How did Isaac show his peaceful spirit in 
the matter of the wells taken by the herdsmen of 
Gerar ? Ch. xxvi. 19-22. 

26. What should that teach us ? Eccles. x. 4. 

27. What occurred just after this? Ch. xxvi. 
23-25. 

28. Treaty between Abimelech and Isaac? 

29. Esau's marriage ? Ch. xxvi. 34. 35. 



LESSON XX. 



JACOB S DECEPTION AND JOURNEY TO AlsD STAY IN 
PADAN-ARAM. — Ch. XXvii.-XXxi. 



1. What is the subject of the 27th chapter? 

2. Who .contrived the plan fc 
"ow effected ? Ch. xxvii. 6-2c 

3. What was wrong in this ? 



2. Who .contrived the plan for deceiving Isaac ? 
How effected ? Ch. xxvii. 6-25. 



3(3 QUESTIONS ON 

4. What blessing did Isaac pronounce upon 
Jacob? Ch. xxvii. 28, 29. 

5. How was Esau affected when he discovered 
it, and what did he do? Ch. xxvii, 34. What 
is said of Esau in Heb. xii. 16, 17 ? 

G. Did Isaac reverse the blessing? What did 
he say concerning Esau? Ch. xxvii. 37-40. 

7. What were the consequences of this decep- 
tion ? Ch. xxvii. 41. 

8. What trait of character, most manifestly 
wicked, did Eebekah exhibit in all this ? 

9. Do the blessings here pronounced on Jacob 
imply any approbation of his conduct, or are they 
to be regarded simply as prophetic ? 

10. To w^hat place did Jacob depart, and why ? 
Ch. xxviii. 2. 

11. What remarkable dream had Jacob on his 
way? What did God promise him? Ch. xxviii. 
11-15. 

12. W^hat did Jacob say when he awoke ? What 
was the meaning of Jacob's pouring oil upon the 
stone ? Ch. xxviii. 18-22. 

13. Meaning of Bethel ? Where is it ? 

14. To what place did Jacob come ? Describe 
his first meeting with Eebekah and Laban? Ch. 
xxix. 1-8. W^hat relationship did they bear to him ? 

15. What ancient customs do we here learn con« 
cerning wells, and watering flocks? 

16. Who became Jacob's wives? How long did 
he serve for each ? Ch. xxix. 15-27. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 37 

17. What baroain did Jacob make with Laban? 
Ch. XXX. 28-36. ^ 

18. What is the character which Laban mani- 
fests in all his intercourse with Jacob? 

19. How did Laban and his family seem at 
length to regard Jacob? Ch. xxxi. 1, 2. 

20. What did God direct Jacob to do ? Ch. xxxi. 
3-16. What did his wives think of it ? 

21. How did Jacob leave ? Ch. xxxi. 20. 

22. What did Rachel take? What does this 
show? Ch. xxxi. 19. 

23. What prevented Laban from injuring Jacob? 
Ch. xxxi. 24, 42. 

24. At what place did Laban overtake Jacob ? 
Where is that'? Ch. xxxi. 21-25. 

25. How long had Jacob been with Laban ? 
Ch. xxxi. 41. 

26. How many children had Jacob when he left 
Padan-aram ? Xame them in the order of their 
ages ? 

27. What is taught us in this whole narrative 
concernincr the Drovidence of God ? 



LESSON XXI. 



RETUHN OF JACOB— DEATH OF ISAAC. 

Ch. xxxii.-xxxv. 
1. What took place at Mahanaim? Meaning 



38 QUESTIONS ON 

of Mahanaim? Ans. Two Hosts. Where was it? 
Josh. xiii. 26-30. 

2. To whom did Jacob send messengers? Ch. 
xxxii. 3. 

3. Where did Esau live ? Ch. xxxii. 3. 

4. What excited Jacob's fears? Ch. xxvii. 41. 

5. Tell what Jacob did to appease Esau, and to 
save his family ? Ch. xxxii. 4, 5, 13 ; xxxiii. 1-15. 

6. What remarkable event took place during 
that night? Change of name ? Meaning of Israel? 
Ch. xxxii. 9, 24-32. 

7. Meaning of Peniel ? Ans. God's face. Where 
was it? Ch. xxxiii. 22. 

8. Describe the meeting of Esau and Jacob? 
Ch. xxxiii. 1-15. 

9. To what place did Jacob come ? Meaning of 
Succoth? Ch. xxxiii. 17. 

10. Where did Jacob settle at first? Where 
was this? Acts vii. IG ; Jno. iv. 5-12. 

11. What did he purchase, and for what? Ch. 
xxxiii. 19, 20. AVhat did he erect ? Meaning of 
the name ? 

Israel's God. 

12. What terrible revenge did the sons of Jacob 
take upon the Shechemites for the injury done 
their sister? Ch. xxxiv. Which of his sons took 
the lead in this ? Ch. xxxiv. 25. 

13. Where did Jacob after this go to dwell, and 
why ? What had taken place there before ? Ch. 
xxviii. 13-19; Ch. xxxv. 1-7. 



OLD TESTA MP:NT HISTORY. 39 

14. What is there to show that there was idol- 
atry even in Jacob's household ? Ch. xxxv, 2-4. 

15. Who died at Bethel ? Does it appear that 
the nurse was an important and highly esteemed 
persons in eastern families? Ch. xxxv, 8. "Oak of 
weeping/' 

16. What promises did God here renew to- 
Jacob? Ch. xxxv. 9-15. 

17. Where did Rachel die ? Where is Ephrath 
or Bethlehem ? Ch. xxxv. 19. 

18. Name the sons of Jacob, by Leah, by 
Rachel, by Bilhah, by Zilpah? Ch. xxxv. 23-26. 

19. Where did Jacob next go ? Where is that^ 
Ch. xxxv. 21 ; Micah. iv. 8. 

20. How old vras Isaac when he died '? Who 
buried him ? Ch. xxxv. 27-29. 

21. Where did Esau dwell ? Were his des- 
cendants numerous and powerful ? AVhat w^ere 
they called? Ch. xxxii. 3. 

Edomiies. Read chapter xxxvi. 



LESSON XXII. 

HISTORY OF JOSEPH. — Ch. XXXvii-xliv. 

1. How^ was Joseph regarded by his brethren, 
and why ? Ch. xxxvii. 3, 4. 

2. What were his dreams ? Ch. xxxvii. 5-11. 

3. W^hither was Joseph sent ? Ch. xxxvii. 12, 13. 



40 QUESTIONS OX 

III ^vhat direction were Shechem and Dotham from 
Hebron, and how far ? 

North, fifty miles. 

4. Kelate v/hat his brethren did to him? Who 
were the Ishmaelites and Midianites ^ Ch. xxxvii. 
19-28. 

5. What do you learn here about the trade of 
tliat early age ? 

6. What were some of the customs of mourning 
ax that time ? Ch. xxxvii. 34. 

7. What became of Joseph ? Gh. xxxvii. 36. 
AVhat kind of an officer ivS meant by a captain of 
the guara ? Compare Ch. xxxix. 20. 

8. What is our only safeguard against any tempt- 
ation ? Ch. xxxix. 9. What did Potiphar do with 
Joseph when accused? Ch. xxxix. 20. 

9. What prison was this, and who was the 
keeper of the prison ? 

10. What is stated as the cause why everything 
prospered to which Joseph put his hand ? Ch. 
xxxix, 21. 

11. Who was the chief butler? The chief 
baker ? What were their dreams ? Wliat was 
the interpretation of each ? Ch. xl. 1-19. 

12. W^hat occurrence led to the deliverance of 
Joseph ? Ch. xli. 1-32. Tell Pharoah's dreams. 

13. What trait of character is shown by Joseph's 
answer to Pharoah in Ch. xli. 16 ? 

14. What was the interpretation ? Joseph's 
advice ^ Ch. xli. 25-36. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 41 

15. How \v<is Jo.sepli rewarded ? Ch. xli. 
38-45. 

16. Meaning of the name given him '.^ 
A revealer of secrets. 

Who became his wife. Ch. xli. 45. 

17. How old was he at this time? Ch xli, 46. 

18. How did he manage during the years of 
plenty ? How when the famine began ? Verses 
46-49, 

19. What sons had Joseph ? Ch. xli. 50-52. 

20. What led Joseph's brethren to come down 
into Egypt ? Ch. xlii. 5. 

21. Describe the first interview of Joseph with 
his brethren ? Ch xlii. 6-20. 

22. How is the power of conscience shown here ? 
Ch. xlii. 20. 

23. In what v>'ay did Joseph dismiss them ? 

24. Describe the circumstances attending their 
setting out to visit Egypt a second time ;^ Ch. 
xliii. 1-14. 

25. Their reception and treatment by Joseph ? 
Joseph's jDoiicv further to detain and trv them ? 
Ch. xliii. 15-34, and Ch. xliv. 1-14. 

26. Its effect ? Ch. xliy. 14-34. 



LESSON XXIII. 



HISTOHY OF JOSEPH CONCLUDED. — Ch. xlv.-l. 

1. How did Joseph make himself known ? 



42 QUESTIONS ON 

2. Who does Joseph say sent him into Egypt ? 
Ch. xlv. 5, 8. What does this prove ? Ps. Ixxvi. 
10. 

3. What message did Joseph send to his father? 
How did Pharoah regard the matter ? Ch. xlv. 
9-13, 16-20. 

4. How was Jacob affected when he heard all 
this? Ch. xlv. 28. 

5. What took place at Beersheba on his way to 
Egypt? Ch. xlvi. 1-4. 

6. How many of^ Jacob's descendants came 
down in Egypt \vith him ? How" many in all ? 
Ch. xlv. 26, 27. How many does it say there were 
in Acts vii. 14 ? How do you reconcile these 
passages ? 

Stephen includes Joseph's children and grandchildren. 

7. Where was the land of Goshen ? 

8. How were shepherds regarded bv the Egvpt- 
ians ? Why ? Ch. xliii. 32 : xlvi. 34. 

9. What was Jacob's age when he came down 
into Egypt? Ch. xlvii. 9. His answer to Pharoah, 
describing his life ? 

10. On what terms did Joseph supply the 
people with corn ? What was the result ? Ch. 
xlvii. 13-20. 

11. What sons of Joseph did Jacob adopt as his 
own? Which w^as the elder? Ch. xlviii. 5,14. 
Relate the circumstances of his blessing ? Ch. 
xlviii. 14-20. _ 

12. How" w^as the pr oph e cy i n cl u d ed i n t his bl ess- 
infT fulfilled? Jer. xxxi. 9. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 43 

13. What is meant by the angel .spoken of in 
Ch. xlviii. 16 ^ Ch. xxviii. 15. 

14. Meaning of Ch. xlviii, 22 ; Ch. xxxiv. 28. 

15. What was Jacob's last act ? Ch. xlix. 1, 2, 
At what age did he die ? Ch. xlvii. 28. 

16. What did Joseph cause to be done in regard 
to his body ? What was embalming ? Describe 
the process ? Ch. 1. 2. 

17. How long did they mourn for him? Where 
did they burv him? Describe the funeral? Ch. 
1. 3-13. 

18. How did Joseph's brethren feel, and what 
did thev do? Ch. 1. 15-18. How did Josejli 
answer them? Ch. 1. 19-21. 

19. Joseph's age? Ch. 1. 22. What promise 
did he exact of his brethren ? Ch. 1. 24. What 
does this show ? 

20. Why is this first book of the Bible called 
Genesis ? Ans. Because history of the world'& 
origin. Its author? Chief topics? 

21. Of how many years does it record the his- 
tory ? 

Two thousand three hundred and sixty-nine. 

22. How long from the call of Abraham till the 
death of Joseph? 

Two hundred and eighty-six years. 

23. How long was this before Christ? 
One thousand six hundred and thirty-five years. 

24. How long after the flood ? 
Seven hundred and thirteen vears. 



44 QUESTIONS ON 

LESSON XXIV. 

HISTORY OF JOB — Ch. i.-iv. 

1. Where is Uz ? And what its other name ? 
Lam. iv. 21. Gen. xxxvi. 20, 21, 28. Situation 
of Edom? 

2. When did Job probably live, and of what 
race ? Compare Ch. ii. 11 with Gen. xxxvi. 10, 11. 
Gen. XXV. 2. 

Bildah seems to have been a descendant of Abraham 
by Keturah. 

3. Who probably wrote the book of Job ? 

Job himself; and Moses got it from JoVs kinsman, 
Jethro the Midianite. Exod. iii. 1. 

4. Job's character and wealth ? Ch. i. 1, 8 ; ii. 6. 
" Perfect" in what sense ? Compare Ch. xl. 4. 

5. How is Satan's interview with God, and the 
permission to afflict Job, to be understood ? Ch. i. 
6-12 ; ii. 1-6. Compare I Kings xxii. 17-23. 

6. Describe Job's successive calamities, and his 
conduct under them. Ch. i. 13-22; ii. 1-10. 
What powers must Satan have exerted to inflict 
these ? Eph. ii. 2. 

7. What seems to have been God's object in per- 
mitting Job's afflictions? I. Cor. x. 11. 

8. Who visited Job ? How did they show their 
sympathy ? Ch. ii. 11-13. 

9. Who first broke the silence ? What senti- 
ments did Job express ? Ch. iii. Were they as 
innocent as the previous ones of Ch. i. 21, 22, and 
Ch. ii. 9. 10'? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 45 

10. What answer did this provoke ? Was it 
kind and sympathizing ? Oh. iv. What expla- 
nation does Eliphaz give of Job's calamities ? Ch. 
iv. 7, 8. Was this just to Job, and is it the whole 
truth? Eccles. ix. 1; Ps. Ixxiii. 3-14, 17-28; 
Rom. ii. 4 ; Luke vi. 35. Was Eliphaz then 
speaking inspired truth in this ? Job xlii. 7, last 
clause. 

11. Did Eliphaz speak inspired truth in verses 
17-19? See verses 15, 16. What truths there 
stated ? 

God's holiness, and the sinfulness and unworthiness of 
all men, 

[Note. — Chap. iv. begins a debate between Job and 
his three friends, continued to Ch. xxxii., in which each 
speaks in turn, urging the same erroneous doctrine — that 
Job's calamities proved him a hypocrite and an enemy of 
God. After each, Job retorts, declaring this view untrue 
and unjust to him. He teaches the true doctrine of Ps. 
Ixxiii., but with too much anger and murmuring. As the 
debate is prolonged, his three friends become more harsh 
and abusive, and Job more distressed. Compare Bildah's 
view, Ch. vii. 11-13 ; Ch. xviii. 1-8. Zophar's, Ch. xi. 
6 ; Ch. XX. 4-7. Eliphaz at length charges the grossest 
crimes and hypocrisy on Job. Ch. xxii. 5-10. Job 
repels this cruel charge, teaches the true doctrine — that 
God, who tolerates the wicked for a time, chastises the 
righteous for their imperfections — and in Ch. xxxi. de- 
clares the moral principles he had ohserved in sincerity. 
These are substantiality the principles of the 
*' Sermon on the Mount."] 



LESSON XXV. 

HISTORY OF JOB CONCLUDED. — Ch. XXxii-xlii. 

1. Who is the last speaker who comes in at Ch. 



46 QUESTIONS ON 

xxxii ? Gen. xxii. 21. Does not this confirm the 
TDelief that Job and his friends were all Hebrews? 
Is Elihii included in God's charge of error? Oh. 
xlii. 7. 

2. Is Elihu satisfied with the debate ? Ch. 
xxxii. 12. In what temper does he propose to 
■discuss the matter ? Ch. xxxii. 21, 22. Does he 
propose to treat Job harshly ? Cli. xxxiii. 6, 7. 

3. Wherein does he think Job in error? Ch. 
xxxiii. 8-12. How does he account for the sore 
afflictions of God's children? Ch. xxxiii. 16, 17, 
26-30. 

4. Can God be thus reconciled to a sinner with- 
out an intercessor ? Ch. xxxiii. 23, 24. 

5. What does Elihu think was Job's error ? Ch. 
xxxiv. 5. How ought the chastened to sDeak to 
God? Ch. xxxiv. 31,32. 

6. Are we ever to permit ourselves to think that 
G-od's dealings are, or can be, unjust, however mys- 
terious or awful ? Ch. xxxiv. 10, 18, 19. 

7. What lessons should we learn from God's 
majesty and omnipotence even as seen in his 
material works ? Ch. xxxv. 5-8. Read Ch. xxxvi. 
and xxxvii. 

8. What speaker now appears upon the scene ? 
Ch. xxxviii. 1. What are the arguments he uses 
to show the folly and sin of murmuring against His 
dealings? Ch. xxxviii, 4, 8, 12, 17, 19, 22, 25, 31, 
34, 39, 41. What attributes of God are set in 
contrast with our ignorance and weakness by these 
works of creation and "orovidence ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 47 

9. By what further evidences does God declare 
his power, wisdom and sovereignty in Ch. xxxix. 
1, 9, 13, 19, 27? [What animal is probably des- 
cribed by the " unicorn ? "] And in Oh. xl/41 f 

10. What effect had this display on Job ? Ch. 
xl, 3-5 ; Ch. xlii. 1-6. How do the view of God's 
perfection and the conviction of our guilt serve 
to console the christian under affliction ? 

11. W^hat was God's direction to Job's three 
friends? Ch. xlii. 7-9. What benefit did Job 
gain in interceding for his friends ? Ch. xlii. 10. 

12. Relate the happv conclusion of Job's his- 
tory. Ch. xlii. 11-17. "^ 

13. What traits have the thoughts and style of 
Ch. xxxviii-xli ? Has any subsec|uent poet written 
more sublimely? 

14. How many of the cardinal doctrines of Re- 
demption appear in this book to have been known 
to the patriarchs? God's creation of all things? 
His holiness, justice, wisdom, omnipotence and 
love ? Where ? His universal providence ? Where ? 
Man's depravity ^ W^here ? Future rewards and 
punishments ? The resurrection of the body f 
The Redeemer and Intercessor that was to come f 
Where ? See, for instance, Ch. xix. 25-27, and 
Ch. xxxii. 23, 24. 

15. What form of idolatry was prevailing, even 
among the descendants of Shem and Heber, at 
that day f Ch. xxxi. 26, 27. 



48 QUESTIONS ON 

LESSON XXVL 

HISTORY OF MOSES. — Exodus, Ch. i. to vi. 

1. What is said of the prosperity of the chiklren 
of Israel after they came into Egypt ? Ch. i. 7. 

2. How was this regarded bv the new king ? 
Ch. i. 9, 10. 

3. How long probably after Joseph's death did 
this king arise ? 

• About fifty-five years. 

4. How did he at first attempt to prevent their 
increase? Ch. i. 11-14. Its effects? 

5. Whom did he then command to be destroyed ? 
Ch. i. 15-22. 

6. W^hom did God appoint to deliver his peo- 
ple ? Ch. ii. Parents of Moses ? Ch. vi. 20. Of 
what tribe ? 

7. Narrate the circumstances of his birth and 
exposure and deliverance ? Meaning of Moses ? 

Saved from water. 

8. By whom was he adopted. Ch. ii. 5-10. 
Why did he not suflfer himself to be regarded as 
her son ? Heb. xi. 24-27. 

9. How could Moses bear the reproach of 
Christ ? Why did he bear it ? Heb. xi. 26. 

10. His early character ? Acts vii. 22. 

11. Narrate the circumstances that caused his 
flight to Midian. Ch. ii. 11-15. How old was he 
at this time f Acts vii. 30 with Exod. vii. 7. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 49 

12. Where was Midian ? Who was priest of 
Midian ? Ch. ii. 16-18. Give the history of 
Moses' life in Midian. Ch. ii. 20-25. 

13. How and where did God appear to him ? 
W^ho was this angel of the Lord'/' Ch. iii. 1, 2 
6, 7. Give the substance of God's communi- 
cation to Moses at this time. Ch. iii. 7-22. 

14. Name of God which he directs Moses to 
use ? Its meaning? Ch. iii. 14. 

15. To whom did he first send Moses ? To 
whom afterwards? Ch. iii. 10, and 15, 16. Does 
it appear from this that they had some kind of 
government among themselves. 

16. Successive objections of Moses? Chap iv. 
1, 10, 13. 

Bv what miracles and promises did God 
'^ Ch. iv. 2-9. 

18. Who w^as Aaron ? Older or younger than 
Moses ? Chap. vii. 7. How old was Moses w^hen 
he returned to Egypt ? Acts vii. 30. Chap, vii. 7. 

19. How was his message to the people re- 
ceived ? Ch. iv. 31. 

20. What w^as the first request of Moses to 
Pharoah on behalf of the people ? And how did 
he answer it ? Ch. v. 1, 2. 

21. First efiPect of this upon the people ? Ch. 
v. 5-21. What did Moses then do ? And how 
did God answer him? Ch. v. 22. 

22. By what name had he not hitherto been 
known ? Meaning of it ? Ch. vi. 3. 

4 



50 QUESTIONS ON 

23. How did Moses again answer God's direc- 
tion to go to Pharoali ? Oh. vi. 12. 

24. Meaning of Ch. vii. 1 and 3 ? Ch. iv. 16. 



LESSON XXVII. 



THE PLAGUES SENT UPON EGYPT. — Cll. vii.-xii. 

1. Narrate the fii-st interview with Pharoah ? 
Oh vii. 10, &c. 

2. What do you know of these magicians and 
sorcerers? II Tim. iii. 8. 

3. Did they actually perform these miracles, or 
were these mere tricks by which they imposed on 
the people ? 

4. How did God make Pharoah and the Egypt- 
ians willing to let Israel go? Ch. vii. 17. 

5. How many of these plagues were there? 

6. Describe the first ? How was it brought ? 
Its extent ? The success of the magicians in imi- 
tating it ? Ch. vii. 19, &c. 

7. Describe the second? How brought? Its 
extent ? Its effects ^ Ch. viii. 1-14. 

8. How were the frogs removed ? Effect on 
Pharoah ? Ch. viii. 15. 

9. Third plague ? Was it preceded by any 
warning ? Did the magicians imitate it ? What 
did they say ? Ch. viii. 16-19, 

10. Fourth plague ? How was it with the land 
of Goshen ? Its effect ? Ch. viii. 20, 24. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 51 

11. Fifth plague 'i^ Describe the circumstances 
particularly. Ch. ix. 2-7. 

12. Sixth plague '? What is said of the magi- 
cians ? Ch. IX. 8-12. 

13. What threatening was Moses commanded to 
announce to Pharoah ? Ch. ix. 13. 14. 

14. Seventh plague ? What was there peculiar 
about this ^ Ch. ix. 24. Was hail customary in 
Egypt ? Extent of the storm ? Effect on Pha- 
roah ? Ch. ix. 27, 28. 

15. Eighth plague ? Describe it. Effect on 
Pharoah's servants ? Ch. x. 12 and 7. 

16. How does Moses rise in his demands? 
Verse 9. 

17. Ninth plague '? Describe it. Effect of it ? 
Ch. X. 22, &c. 

18. Does Moses now rise still higher in his de- 
mands ? Ch. X. 25, 26. 

19. W^hat is the final plague with which Moses 
threatened the EgyjDtians ? Give particulars of 
the threatening. Ch. xi. 

20. W^hat did God command the Israelites to do 
before He sent the last plague upon the Egypt- 
ians? Meaning of the word ''borrow'' here? 

This word as used here does not imply any design of 
returning, but means only ^' to asA'." 

21. What were the Israelites required to do 
that they might escape the terrible judgment 
threatened ? Ch. xii. 1-13. 

22. What feast was instituted to commemorate 



52 QUESTIONS ON 

this event? Ch. xii. 27. Why called the pass- 
over? By what other name called, and why? 
Ch. xii. 17, 39. How was it to be observed and 
how long ? Ch. xii. 14. 

23. How is the visitation of this last plague 
described ? Ch. xii. 29, 30. 

24. Its effect ujDon Pharoah and the Egyptians? 

25. How did the people go? Ch. xii. 31, &c. 
Describe the ''kneading troughs?" 

26. From what place did the Israelites start? 
Ch. xii. 37, 38. Their number? Who were there 
besides Israelites ? 



LESSON XXVIII. 



PERIOD IV. — FROM THE DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT 
TO THE SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN, 47 YEARS. 

PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. — ExoduS, Ch. xll. 40 tO XV. 

1. How long was the sojourn of the children of 
Israel in Egypt. Ch. xii. 40. 

2. From what time must you begin to count 
this 430 years. Gen. xv. 13. 

3. By w^hat change as to the beginning of their 
year was this greatest event in the history of the 
Israelites commemorated. Ch. xii. 2. 

4. How w^ere all their first born ever afterwards 
to be regarded ? Ch. xiii. 1-13. 

5. Did God lead them by the most direct route 
to Canaan ? Why did He not ? Meaning of 
'^harnessed" in this place ^! Ch. xiii. 17, 18, 20. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 53 

6. What did Moses take with him ? Ch. xiii. 19. 

7. How did God guide them ? Ch. xiii. 21. 

8. What period of Bible History does this in- 
clude ? 

9. What period is this in the history of the 
visible church ? 

The first. 

10. Was there any visible church before the 
calling of Abraham i 

11. What is a type ? 

12. Of w^hat was the passover and the deliver- 
ance from Egypt a type ? I Cor. v. 7. 

13. Typical meaning of the lamb ? Of the 
blood sprinkled on the door-posts ? Of eating the 
lamb ? Of the fact that strangers were prohib- 
ited ? Of the bitter herbs? Of the destruction 
with which all were visited on whose door-posts 
the blood was not sprinkled ? John i. 29. Exod. 
xii. 13. John vi. 35. I Cor. xi. 28, 29 ; v. 7, 8. 
Exod. i. 14. Acts iv. 12. 

14. Meaning of the word " Exodus ?" Why is 
this second book of the Bible so called ? 

15. Where did God direct the Israelites to 
encamp first ? What sea is meant ? Whv did he 
direct this? Ch. xiv. 1-4. 

16. What did Pharoah do ? Ch. xiv. 5-9. 

17. How did the Israelites behave w^hen they 
first saw themselves in danger ? Ch. xiv. 11, 12. 

18. What did Moses say and do ? Ch. xiv. 



54 QUESTIONS ON 

13, 14. How did God protect tliem and baffle 
the Egyptians during the night ? Ch. xiv. 19, &c. 

19. Describe the miracle by which they were 
delivered 'and the Egyptians destroyed ? Effect 
of this miracle upon the Israelites. Ch. xiv. 21, &c. 

20. How did they celebrate this deliverance? 
Ch. 15. What reference is made to this song in 
the New Testament ? Rev. xv. 3. What is said 
in this song of the effects of this miracle upon the 
Canaanites and nei^-hborino; nations ? Oh. xv. 
14-17. 

21. What new difficulty met them in the wil- 
derness of Shur ? Ch. xv. 22. 

22. What occurred at Marah ? Meaning of 
Marah ? Ch. xv. 23, &c. 

23. Next encampment ? For what remarkable? 
(iod on Sinai. 



LESSON XXIX. 

MANNA — WATERS OF MERIBAH. 

Exodus Ch. xvi-xviii. 

1. Where did they come on the fifteenth day, 
and what did tliey do here '? AVhat wish did they 
express ? 

2. How is their character described in Psalm 
cvi. 12-14 ? 

3. Describe particularly the miracles by which 
God supplied their wants ? How was the Sabbath 
honored ? 



OLD TESTAMP:NT history. 55 

4. What meaiorial was made of the giving of 
the manna? 

5. How h^ng were they thus fed ? How much 
in our measures is an omer? 

6. Next encampment'? Did the people again 
murmur, and w^hy ? 

7. How again were their wants supplied? What 
was the place called ? Meaning of these w^ords ? 
Of what was this rock a type ? I Cor. x. 4. 

8. What further occurred here ? 

9. Who were the Amalekites ? 

Descendants of Amalek, grandson of Esau. Genesis 
xxxvi. 12. 

10. Where did the Amalekites dwell ? 

11. Who was made commander of the armies of 
Israel at this time ? 

12. Describe the remarkable way in which 
victory was secured to the Israelites ? 

13. What did God direct Moses to write con- 
cerning Amalek ? 

14. When was this threatening accomplished ? 
I Sam., Oh. xv. 

15. Is it dangerous to fight against God's people ? 

16. What connections of Moses met him here ? 

17. Give the substance of their conversation ? 

18. W^hat counsel did Jethro give Moses, and 
what was the occasion of it ? 



56 QUESTIONS ON 

19. Did he adopt it ? What entertainment did 
Jethro give to Moses and the elders of Israel 
before he departed ^ 



LESSON XXX. 



GIVING OF THE LAW. — Ch. xix, XX. 

1. Where was their next and most important 
encampment. 

2. How long were they here ? Num. x, xi. 

3. What were the principal events that occurred 
during this time ? 

The giving of the law, the worship of the golden calf, 
the construction of the tabernacle and its furniture, the 
setting apart of the priests and Levites, and the estab- 
lishment of that religious service that was to continue for 
150 years. 

4. From what place did God speak to Moses ? 
Where is Sinai ? What promise did he make to 
the people ? Ch. xix. 5, 6. On what condition ? 

5. Did the people agree to this ? How can 
you show that there are all the parts of a cove- 
nant here ? What part did Moses act in all this 
matter, and afterwards ? Ans. That of mediator. 
How ? What is a mediator ? 

6. What command was given to the people, and 
what in regard to the mount ? 

7. Describe the terrific appearance of the moun- 
tain on the third day ? 

8. What law did God proclaim in the midst of 
the burning mountain ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 57 

9. Effect of this whole scene upon the people ? 
What did Moses himself say ? Heb. xii. 20, 21. 

10. What does all this teach us in regard to 
this law ? 

Its importance, and the awful consequences of its vio- 
lation. 

11. How is this event to be viewed in regard to 
Israel as a nation ? 

As the solemn and formal act of God in becoming their 
king, equivalent to the inauguration of an earthly mon- 
arch. 



LESSON XXXI. 



CIVIL LAW — DIRECTION FOR TABERNACLE. 

Ch. xxi-xxxi. 

1. What other law did God give at this time? 
Civil law. 

2. What remarkable promise is associated with 
these in chapter xxiii. 20-23. Who is meant by this 
Angel ? 

3. How w^ere all these laws given ? 

Privately to Moses, who told them to the people. Ch. 
xxiv. 3. 

4. What further did Moses do with these words 
of God ? What did he do the next day ? Ch. 
xxiv. 4. 

5. How did he confirm the covenant of the peo- 
ple with God ? Ch. xxiv 5-8. 



58 QUESTIONS ON 

6. What remarkable appearance of God is 
recorded in the next verses ? Who saw it ? Who 
were Nadab and Abihu ? 

7. What was Moses then required to do ? Who 
went with him ? What charge did he give to 
Aaron and the elders ? 

8. How long were Moses and Joshua together in 
the mount ? 

9. What took place the seventh day? 

God called Moses up apart into the very top of the 
mountain, where he remained forty davs. 

10. What directions were given to Moses at this 
time ? 

Concerning the construction of the tahernacle and its 
furniture, and the consecration of it; and also of Aaron 
and his sons to the priest's office. Ch. xxv-xxxi. 

11. Was there a pattern of tliese things showed 
to Moses in the mount */ Ch. xxv. 40, xxvi. 30, 
Heb. viii. 5. 

12. What did God give to Moses when he had 
finished these directions? Ch. xxxi. 18. 



LESSON XXXIL 

GOLDEN CALF. — Cliap. xxxii-xxxiv. 

1. While Moses was in the mount, what did the 
people do ? What reason did they give ? Aaron's 
agency in it ? 

2. Did the Lord inform Moses of this before he 
came down ? What did He threaten ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 59 

3. Remarkable intercession of Moses for the 
people ? Did God hear him ? 

4. What duty are we here taught "? 

5. "What occurred as Moses and Joshua were 
descending from the m.ount ? 

6. Was the anger of Closes on this occasion 
right ? 

7. What was indicated bv his breakincr the two 
tables of the testimon}^ ? 

That the covenant of which they were the record and 
the pledge on the part of God was broken. 

8. What did he do with the calf"? How could 
this be done ? 

9. Relate his interview with Aaron "? 

10. Was the making and worshipping of this 
calf a renunciation of Jehovah as their God and 
king, or was it rather a representation of him by 
a visible image ? Ch. xxxii. 4. Why did they 
select the image of a calf? 

11. What fearful punishment was inflicted? 
How does this show the awful evil of sin ? 

12. What did Moses do the next day ? His 
striking prayer ? Meaning of last part of verse 
32 ? Hov/ did God threaten to punish them fur- 
ther ? 

13. How did God further signify His displeas- 
ure ? Ch. xxxiii. 1-6, especially verses 3 and 5. 

14. What visible sign of this displeasure was 
gi^en ? 



60 QUESTIONS ON 

15. What followed the removal of the taberna- 
cle of the congregation ? 

16. What was this tabernacle of the congrega- 
tion ? 

It was doubtless a tent used for sacred purposes, before 
the tabernacle which Moses was commanded to erect was 
set up. 

17. Meaning of verse 11? 

18. What promise did God give to Moses to 
•encourage him ? Ch. xxxiii. 14. 

19. What remarkable request did Moses make, 
{verse 18,) and in what remarkable manner was 
it answered ? 

20. What command did God next give to 
Moses ? 

21. How did the Lord meet Moses in the mount ? 

22. Report the sublime and striking description 
Ood gave to Moses of his character in verses 6, 7 
of Ch. xxxiv. ? 

23. How long was Moses this second time on 
the mount ? Ch. xxxiv. 28. 

24. Efiect on the person of Moses ? What did 
Moses do to remove the fears of the people ? 



LESSON XXXIII. 

ANALYSIS OF LEVITICUS — NADAB AND ABIHU. 

Chapter x. 

1. Why is the third book in the Bible called 
Leviticus ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 61 

Because it prescribes the sacrifices and other rites and 
ceremonies of religion, the charge of which was com- 
mitted to the Levitical priesthood 

2. By whom and when written? Ch. xxvii. 34, 

3. What are its principal contents ? 

The first seven chapters prescribe the various kinds of 
sacrifices ; the eighth, ninth and tenth, the consecration 
of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, and the sin and 
death of Nadab and Abihu ; the next chapter (lith,) the 
distinction of clean and unclean animals ; the next four, 
(12th, 13th, 14th, 15th,) laws concerning ceremonial puri- 
fications, and the remaining twelve chapters, various laws, 
especially those relating to the sacred festivals, and other 
sacred times. 

4. What are the only matters of history that it^ 
contains? Ch. viii.-x., xxiv. 10-16. 

5. How is the account of Aaron's first offering 
closed ? Ch. ix. 22-24. 

6. Describe the sin and punishment of Nadab 
and Abihu ? 

7. What solemn words did Moses repeat to 
Aaron at this time ? Ch. x. 3. What are we 
taught by this ? 

8. What are we taught by the conduct required 
of Aaron and his sons on this occasion in verse 6 ? 

The glory of God should lie nearer our hearts than 
any private grief or interest. 

9. What law w^as given immediately afterward, 
(verses 8-11,) and what may w^e thence infer was 
the cause of Nadab and Abihu's sin ? 

10. How had Aaron and his sons varied from 
the law in regard to the sin-offering ? Compare 
with verse 17, Ch. vi. 25, 26, 30. 



62 QUESTIONS ON 

LESSON XXXIV. 

SxiCRIFICES AND FESTIVALS. 

Lev. i.-ix. with Ch. xxiii. 

1. What were the different kinds of offerings 
described ? 

First — Bloody offerings, which were of four kinds : 
(1.) Burnt offerings ; so called because the whole ani- 
mal was burnt on the altar. Ch. i. 

(2.) Sin offerings. Ch. iv., and Ch. vi. 25-30. 

(3.) Trespass offerings. Ch. v. 1-6, vii. 1-7. Both of 
which kinds were to be offered on specified occasions, and 
only parts of which, chiefly the fat, were burned on the 
altar. 

(4.) Peace offerings, which were thank offerings, or 
supplication offerings. Ch. ii. 

Second — Bloodless offerings ; of which the principal 
was the meat offering, (Ch. ii.,) whch consisted of flour 
and oil, always with salt, and often accompanied with 
wine poured out at the altar as a drink offering. This 
usually accompanied a bloody offering, especially the 
peace offerings, but was in other cases presented for itself. 

2. What was the meaning and intention of all 
these sacrifices t Heb. ix. 11, 12. 

3. What were the three great annual festivals ? 

The Passover (at the time of our Easter) ; Pentecost, 
or feast of weeks, seven weeks or fifty days after the 
second day of the Passover, also called feast of harvest ; 
and the Feast of Tabernacles or of ingathering, during 
which they dwelt in tents, in commemoration of their 
sojourn in the wilderness. 

4. How Ions: were each of these ? 

The first and third, seven days each ; the second, one 
day. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 63 

5. What other sacred seasons were appointed ? 

Besides the weekly Sabhath there was the great day of 
atonement, the most solemn of all the year, and the 
Sabbatic year, and the year of Jubilee. 

6. Does this book of Leviticus appear to be of 
much importance to us ? 

Of very great. It is essential to the understanding of 
a large part of the I>iew Testament as well as the Old. 

7. \Yhat may a great part of it, especially that 
relating to sacrifices, be called ? 

The gospel of Jesus Christ, set forth in most striking 
and impressive symbols of God's own appointment. 

8. Is it not then sinful to neglect the careful 
studv of it t 



LESSON XXXV 



:f^UMBER, ORDER AND CONSECRATION OF THE 
LEVITES—OFFERINGS OF FRINGES. 

Numbers i.-viii. 

1. Why is this fourth book called " Numbers ?" 

Because it contains an account of two nuraberings of 
the children of Israel— one at Sinai, and one at the plains 
of Moab, 38 years after. 

2. Of what period does it contain the history? 

Thirty-nine years ; the whole period of their wanderings 
in the desert, from B. C. 1490 to B. C. 1451, 

3. What was the number of the children of 
Israel at the first numbering ? What tribe was 
not numbered ? Largest tribe ? Smallest ? Ch. 
i. 46, 47, 27, 37. 



64 QUESTIONS ON 

4. Describe the order of their encampment ? 

They were divided into four principal camps : on the 
East, the camp of Judah, (inchuiing the three tribes of 
Judah, Issachar and Zebiilon) ; on the South, the camp 
of Keuben, (inchiding Reuben, Simeon and Gad) ; on 
the West, the camp of Ephraim, (including Ephraim, 
Manasseh and Benjamin) ; on the North, the camp of 
Dan, (including Dan, Asher and Naphtali) ; the taber- 
nacle and the families of the Levites being in the midst. 
Ch. ii. 

5. Were the Levites numbered separately ? 
Into what three families were they divided ? The 
charge of the Gershonites ? Of the Kohathites ? 
Of the sons of Merari ? Ch. iv. 

6. Instead of whom did God cause the Levites 
to be set apart for himself ? Was the number of 
the first born and the number of the Levites the 
same ? How were the rest of the first born, over 
and above the number of the Levites, redeemed ? 
Ch. iii. 39-43. 

7. For what other services, besides carrying the 
tabernacle and its furniture, were the Levites con- 
secrated especially to God ? 

To assist the priests in the more laborious service of 
the tabernacle. Ch. iv. and viii. 

8. How were they consecrated to this work ? 
Ch. viii. 5-22. 

9. Compare what is said in Ch. iv. of the age at 
which the Levites were required to perform their 
services with Ch. viii. 23-26, and how will you 
reconcile them ? 

10. What offering was made by each of the 
princes of the tribes at the dedication of the altar ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY, 65 

Oil. vii. What offering by each two of the 
princes ? and to what purpose was it devoted ? 

11. What is told us as to the manner in which 
God talked with Moses ? Ch. vii. 89. 

12. Repeat the three-fold blessing which Aaron 
was required to pronounce upon the people ? Ch. 
vi. 23-26. 

13. Subject of the sixth chapter? Meaning of 
''Nazarite?" Ans. One who is separated. What 
was required of them ? Ch. vi. 3-8. 



LESSON XXXVI. 

SECOND PASSOVER — QUAILS — SIN OF AARON AND 

MIRIAM. — Num. ix-xii. 

1. Where w^as the second passover kept? What 
provision was made for such as were prevented by- 
ceremonial uncleanness, or absence, or a journey, 
from keeping the passover at the appointed time ? 
Ch. ix. 

2. What additional instruments did God com- 
mand Moses to make, and for what various pur- 
poses ? Ch. X. How long were the Israelites at 
Sinai ? When did the Israelites remove from Sinai? 
Ch. X. 11. 

3. Tell the order in w^hich the camps moved, 
and the Levites with the tabernacle and its furni- 
ture ? Why ? 

4. Whom did Moses urge to go with them, and 

5 



66 QUESTIONS ON 



Did he probably go ? See Judges i. 16. 

5. What is said of the ark, and how does this 
agree with what is stated as to the place in the 
inarch occupied by the Kohathites ? How does it 
appear then that the ark was borne — with the 
other sacred things, or before the whole host ? 

6. What was Moses accustomed to say whenever 
the ark moved and rested ? 

7. What took place at Taberah ? Why so 
called? Meaning? Ans. "Burning." 

8. What took place at Kibroth-hattaavah ? 
Meaning of the word? Ans. "Graves of lust." What 
was there in the conduct of Moses at this time that 
appears wrong? Ch. xi. 12-15, 21, 22. What trait 
of character does he manifest just after? Verses 
27-29. Describe particularly in what way God 
relieved Moses of the burden of which he com- 
plained ? 

9. Describe the sin and punishment of Aaron 
and Miriam, and the conduct of Moses on this 
occasion. 

10. Where did they next encamp ? Compare 
chapters xiii. 26, and Deut. i. 10. Where was 
this ? 

11. What kind of a country was that through 
which they came from Sinai ? Deut. i. 19. 



OLD TE8TAMEJNT M18T()K\. 67 

LESSON XXXVII. 

THE SPIES, THEIR REPORT, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 

Xumbers xiii., xiv. 

1. What important measure did Moses adopt 
here by divine direction ? Does it appear that this 
was done at the request of the people ? Dent. i. 22. 

2. The instructions of the spies ? What did 
they do ? Where were Hebron and Eshcol ? 
Could a single bunch of grapes be so large that 
one man could not carry them ? Why borne by 
two ^ 

3. Narrate particularly their report? That of 
Caleb and Joshua? Was the account of the ten 
consistent ? Num. xiii. 32. 

4. Effect of this upon the people ? What did 
they say and propose to do ? 

5. Conduct of Moses and Aaron ? Of Caleb and 
Joshua ? Of the congregation ? 

6. At this critical moment what took place? 
and w^hat did the Lord say ? 

7. Study well this remarkable prayer of Moses 
(Ch. xiv. 13-19,) and tell the pleas with which he 
besought God to spare the people '? What traits 
of character does this show in Moses ? 

8. Give God's answer? What does all this 
show in regard to the nature of successful prayer? 
Fearful punishment denounced for their unbelief? 
Why forty years? What became of the ten spies? 



68 QUESTIONS ON 

9. Effect of this threatening upon the people ? 
What did they resolve to do ? Result ? 

10. What prevented the Israelites from entering 
Canaan at this time? Heb. iii. 17-19. 

11. How does this show the guilt and danger of 
unbelief? Of delay in complying with God's invi- 
tations and commands ? 

12. Eepeat Heb. iii. 7, 8. * 

13. How is the case of sinners now similar to 
that of Israel then ? Heb. iv. 1. 

14. When they at last tried to enter in they 
could not. What solemn truth does this teach us ? 
Prov. i. 28, 29. 



LESSON XXXVIII. 

SABBATH-BREAKING REBELLION OF KORAH. 

Numbers xv.-xix. 

1. Give the account of the Sabbath-breaker, in 
Ch. XV. 32-36. 

2. What was the law of the fringes ? Its de- 
sign ? What are they called in the New Testa- 
ment? Matt, xxiii. 5. 

3. AVhat rebellion took place, apparently soon 
after they were excluded from the promised land ? 
Ch. XVI. 

4. What did Moses do ? What directions were 
given to the rebels ? What answer did Dathan 
and Abiram give when they were sent for by 
Moses ? Meaning of last part of verse 14 ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 69 

5. Does it appear that the whole people were in 
some measure influenced by Korah ? Ch. xvi. 19. 

6. AVhen thus assembled, what took place? 
What did God say ? What did Moses do ? 

7. What further directions were given to Moses, 
and how executed ? 

8. What became of the rebels ? Is it danger- 
ous to be found in the society of the wdcked? 
II Cor. vi. 17, 18. 

9. What was done with their answer? Why? 

10. What took place the next day ? Give the 
particulars and the result ? How many were 
slain by the plague ? 

11. Describe the means by which God w^as 
pleased to give the people a proof of his choice of 
Aaron and Levi, and so put an end to their mur- 
murings ? 

12. What was the position of the priests for 
their service in the tabernacle ? The Levites' por- 
tion ? Were they required to give to God a por- 
tion of their tithes ? 

13. What was the water of separation or puri- 
fication ? Its use ? Typical meaningr ? Kepeat 
Heb. ix. 13, 14. 



LESSON XXXIX. 

BRINGING WATER FROM THE ROCK — DEATH OF 
AARON — FIERY SERPENTS. — Num. XX. xxi. 

1. What is next told of the Israelites? When 
did this take place ? 



70 QUESTIONS ON 

Probably near the close of their wanderings, thirty- 
eight years after they left Egypt. 

2. Does it not appear that the last terrible judg- 
ment had awed the people into submission ? Is 
there very little told us of the events of the thirty- 
seven or thirty-eight years after they left Sinai till 
this time ? What inference from this ? 

3. What took place at Kadesh, in the desert of 
Zin ? When had^ they been here before ? 

4. How did God command Moses and Aaron to 
satisfy the wants of the congregation ? How did 
they obey this command ? 

5. What sentence did God pass upon Moses and 
Aaron for their conduct on this occasion? What 
was their sin ? 

G. How does Moses speak of this in Deut. iv. 
21, 22? 

7. What may be taught by this exclusion of 
Moses ? 

8. Did the Israelites attempt to enter the land 
at the same point as before ? 

9. Where was the country of Edom ? 

10. W^hat message did Moses send to its king ? 
The answer ? 

11. What course did the Israelites then pursue? 
Ch. XX. 22, and xxiv. 4. 

12. What interesting event took j^lace at Mt. 
Hor ? Describe the circumstances ? 

13. Who attacked the Israelites while at Mt. 
Hor ? Result '! 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 71 

14. What punishment did God send upon them 
for a repetition of their murmuring ? Effect of it 
■upon the people ? Remarkable method of relief ? 
Typical of what ? John iii. 14, 15. 

15. By what are we all bitten, and in danger of 
death ? 

16. In what direction did the Israelites then 
march, and where did they finally encamp ? 

17. What message was sent to Sihon, king of 
the Amorites ? What did he do ? Result ? Where 
w^as the Arnon ? The Jabbak ? To whom did 
this country belong before the Amorites possessed 
it? 

18. What additional facts are told concerning 
this conquest in Deut. ii. 26-39 ? 

19. What other conquest w^as made soon after, 
and what w^as the occasion of it ? Where was 
Bashan ? What further particulars are given in 
Deut. iii. 1-11 as to the number and strength 
of its cities and towns? Concerning Og himself, 
and the treatment of the conquered people ? 
AVhat do you know^ to illustrate w-hat is said about 
the bedstead ? 



LESSON XL. 

BALAAM. — Num. xxii-xxiv. 

1. What effect had all this upon Moab ? Who 
was king of Moab ? Wbat did he do ? His mes- 
sage ? The messengers ? Who was Balaam, and 
where did he live ? 



72 QUESTIONS OX 

2. Wiiy did lie wish Balaam to curse Israel ? 
Meaning of divination"? What were the super- 
stitious notions of the ancients in regard to this ? 

3. How did Balaam receive them, and what did 
he finally give them, and why ? 

4. Whom did Balak send the second time, and 
with what message ? Balaam's first answer ? 
Was his conduct consistent with his words ? Why 
did he want another answer from God? 

5. Gods command and permission to him ? 
Does God often grant men what they want to their 
own injury'^ 

6. How did God regard Balaam's conduct ? 
Why y How is this reconciled with verse 20 ? 

7. Describe the manner in which God rebuked 
him particularly ? Repeat II Peter ii. 15, 16. 

8. How did Balak I'eceive him ? 

9. Where did he take him ? AVhat did Balaam 
require to be done ? What did he then do ^i 

10. Repeat the answer w^hich God directed him 
to give to Balak, as Balaam gave it ? Oh. xxiii. 
8-10. 

11. Balak 's answer, and Balaams ? Balak 's 
next step ? Balaam's '( 

12. What answer was he directed to give the 
second time ? Ch. xxiii. 19-21. Repeat the rest 
of it. Verses 22-24. 

13. What did Balak say and do? 

14. Meaning of verse first of Ch. xxiv ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTOKY. 73 

15. Under what influence did he utter the 
remarkable words which follow ? How was Israel 
to be blest "? 

16. What did Balak do then ? 

17. Repeat Balaam's striking language in verses 
17-19 ? Who is meant by this "Star" that shall 
come out of Jacob "? 

18. What did he say of Amalek ? What of the 
Kenites ? Its meaning ? His last prophecy ? Ch. 
xxiv. 23, 24. 

19. What was the character of Balaam ? See 
II Peter ii. 15, 16, and Jude 11, and Josh. xiii. 22. 

20. Though Balaam was compelled by God to 
bless the people, did he not try to injure them by 
the counsel he gave to BaJak ? Ch. xxxi. 16, and 
Eev. ii. 14. 

21. What became of Balaam!' Ch. xxxi. 8. 
Was he a true prophet, though a wicked man ? 



LESSON XLI. 



EAAL-PEOR — IS urn. XXV.-XXXvi. TRIBES EAST OF 

THE JORDAN CITIES OF THE LEVITES. 

Ch. xxxii-xxxvi. 

1. How did the counsel given by Balaam suc- 
ceed ? How did they provoke the angel of the 
Lord ? Who was Baal-peor ? 

2. How was God's displeasure manifested, and 
how was it staved ? 



74 QUESTIONS ON 

3. How was Phinelia^ rewarded for his zeal for 
God? 

4. What are we taught by this ? 

5. When and w^here did this second numbering 
of the people take place, recorded in Ch. xxvi. ? 

6. How many were there ? Had they increased ? 
Were there anv left of those numbered before ? 
Why ? 

7. Had the Levites increased ? 

8. V/ere daughters allowed to inherit their 
father's estate ? In what cases ? What led to 
this law ? 

9. What request did Moses make of God, when 
informed again that he could not enter the land ? 

10. In what way Avas this granted ? 

11. Subject of Ch. xxviii. and xxix ? 

12. What w^as the daily burnt ofiering ? 

13. Subject of Ch. xxx ? What is a vow^? 
When was a wife's or daughter's vow not binding ? 

14. What did God command in regard to the 
Midianites ? Ch. xxxi. 

15. What number w^as sent against them ? The 
result '/ Was the spoil very great ? How divided ? 

16. What two tribes and a half were permitted 
to settle east of the Jordan, and on w^hat condi- 
tion ? Why did they w^ish to settle there ? Ch. 
xxxii. 

17. Who was high priest at this time ? How 
old w^as Aaron at his death ? Ch. xxxiii. 39. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 75^ 

18. Principal subject of Ch. xxxiii. ^ What was 
this last encampment ? 

19. What command was given in regard to the 
Canaanites 1 

20. Were the boundaries of the land carefully 
pointed out ? How was it to be divided ? 

21. As the Levites were not counted a separate 
tribe, and had no separate inheritance, what pro- 
vision was made for them ? Wisdom of this 
arrangement ? 

22. How many of these were to be cities of 
refuge ? Design of these ? If the manslayer was 
found not guilty of willful murder, was he still 
required to dwell in this city of refuge ? Ho\\r 
long? How many witnesses rec^uired to con- 
demn ? 

23. How was the inheritance of females pre- 
vented from passing out of the tribe to which theT 
belonged? 



LESSON XLII. 



JOURNEYINGS IN THE WILDERNESS NARRATED — - 

REPETITION OF THE LAW— MOSES' DEATH, 

DEUTERONOMY. 

1. Why is the fifth book of Moses called Deu- 
teronomy ? 

2. When was it written, and by whom ? 

3. Into what parts may it be divided ? 

Into four parts. 1st. A brief repetition of the his tor jt 



76 QUESTIONS ON 

from the time they left Sinai until thev arrived in the 
plains of Moab. Ch. i-iv. 2d. A repetition of the law with 
motives to obedience. Ch. v-xxvi. 3d. A confirmation 
of the law and renewal of their covenant to be repeated 
at Mt. Ebal and Gerezim, with prophetic blessings and 
curses. Ch. xxvii-xxx. 4th. An account of the last 
acts and the death of Moses. Ch. xxxi-xxxiv. 

4. What prophecy of a very remarkable char- 
acter does this contain concerning Christ? Ch. 
xviii. 15-19. 

5. Why were the Jews required to abstain from 
certain animals as food ? 

6. What commandment was given in regard to 
the confirmation of the covenant after Moses' 
•death? Ch. xxvii. 

7. When and how was this fulfilled ? See Josh, 
viii. 30-35. 

8. Have all the terribU} threatenings recorded 
in Ch. xxviii. been fulfilled? What does this 
teach us ? 

9. Did the whole nation at this time publicly 
renew their engagements to serve the Lord ? Ch. 
xxix. 1, 10-15. Meaning of latter part of verse 15? 

10. What was to come upon the land if they 
failed to keep this covenant ? 

11. But if they should repent what was prom- 
ised ? 

12. How often was the whole law required to be 
read publicly to all the people ? Ch. xxxi. 9-13. 

13. Where was the book of the law to be kept? 
Ch. xxxi. 24-27. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 77 

14. How and why was this sublime ocle, the 
song of Moses, contained in chapter xxxii, com- 
posed ? Ch. xxxi. 16-22. Principal subjects of 
this wonderfi.ll song ? 

God's great mercy and vengeance. 

15. In what circumstances did God give these 
commands and this song to Moses? Ch. xxxi. 14, 
16. Who was with Moses, and why ? 

16. Subject of chapter xxxiii ? Prophetic bless- 
ing of Moses on each of the tribes. 

17. What sublime and beautiful description of 
the blessedness of God's people is at its close ? 
Verses 26-29. 

18. After these last words of Moses what did he 
do ? Why did he go there ? 

19. Where and by whom was he buried ? Why 
was this ? 

20. His age and strength ? 

21. W^hat is said of Joshua ? 

22. In w^hat respect did Moses excel all other 
prophets ? 



LESSON XLIII. 

Joshua's commission — the spies and rahab, 
Joshua, Ch. i., ii. 

1. Author of this book ? Time embraced by 

it? 

About twenty -five years. 



2. Subjects of the book ? 

The conquest of Canaan, and settlement of the Israel- 
ites. 

3. Its design ? 

To show the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, 
and the inheritance given to each tribe in the land ? 

4. To what work was Joshua called ? 

5. What do you know of his previous history ? 

6. Promises and encouragements ? 

7. Condition of success ? 

8. What are we taught by this ? 

9. Where were the Israelites encamped ? Where 
was Jericho ? 

10. Give an account of the spies and Rahab ? 

11. Wliither was the camp removed ? 

12. Describe the manner in which they passed 
the Jordan ^ 

13. State of the river at this time ? 

14. What was done to perpetuate the memory 
of this miracle ? 

15. Effect of this miracle on the Canaanites? 

16. What two important religious ordinances, 
long neglected, were now attended to ? 

17. Why had they been omitted in the desert? 

18. What chancre took place in their supply of 
food? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 79 

LESSON XLIV. 

TAKING OF JERICHO — ACHAN's SIIS — AI TAKEN — 
NATIONxlL COVENANT. — Josliua, Ch. V-viii. 

1. What vision appeared to Joshua bv Jericho ? 
Ch. V. 13-15. 

2. Describe the whole interview ; and particu- 
larly the manner in which Jericho was taken ? 

3. What disposition was made of the spoils and 
of the people ? 

4. Who onlv were saved ? 

5. What curse was pronounced upon the man 
w-ho should rebuild the city ? 

6. When was this actually fulfilled ? 

7. What sin did Achan commit. Ch. viii. Its 
immediate effect 1 

8. What great reverse did God send upon them ? 

9. What do you see w^rong in the spirit wdth 
which they attacked Ai ? 

10. May one man's sin bring ruin and calamity 
on others ? Give other instances of this ? 

11. Effect on Joshua and the elders of Israel? 

12. God's answer to Josliua ? 

13. How was Achan discovered ? 

14. His punishment ? 

15. What do you learn from this in regard to 
concealing your feelings ? 



80 QUESTIONS ON 

IG. AVhat communication did Joshua imme- 
diately after this receive from the Lord ? 

17. Describe the stratagem by which Ai was 
taken ? 

18. Before prosecuting the war further, what 
important transaction took place ? Ch. viii. 30-35. 

19. When had this been commanded ? Deut. 
xxvii. 

20. Describe the whole transaction. Its design ? 



LESSON XLV. 



CONQUEST OF THE LAND — SETTLEMENT OF THE 

TRIBES. Joshua, Ch. ix.-xvii. 

1. What was the effect of all these things upon 
all the people of the land except the Gibeonites ? 

2. Describe the way in which they deceived 
Joshua and the princes and secured a league ? 

3. What was wrong in the course of the Israel- 
ites in this thing ? Ch. ix. 14. 

4. Though spared, how were they punished ? 

5. To what war did this lead ? 

6. Describe the battle and victory of Joshua 
which followed, and the wonderful miracles bv 
which it was completed ? 

7. What other cities did Joshua immediately 
take and destroy ? 

Makedah, Libnah, Lackish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, 
Debir. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 81 

8. Of what portion of the land did tliis com- 
plete the conquest? Ch. x. 41. 

9. What new league was formed by the Canaan- 
ites ? 

10. Where did Joshua attack them, and the 
result ? 

11. Where are w^e told of the continuance and 
conclusion of the war ? Ch. xi. 15-23. 

12. How many years did the w^ar continue ? 

13. Subject of Ch. xii? How many kings were 
conquered in all ? 

14. How old was Joshua at the end of the war ? 

15. What portions of the land were still held 
by the Canaanites ? 

16. Who w^ere the Philistines, and where did 
they dwell ? 

17. What promise and command did God now 
give Joshua ? 

18. What tribes were already provided for ? 

19. AVhat were next provided for ? What of 
Caleb? Ch. xiv. 6-15. 



LESSON XLVI. 



SETTLEMENT COMPLETED — DEATH OF JOSHUA. 

Joshua, Ch. xviii.-xxiv. 

1. Where was the tabernacle then set up ? 

2. What was then done preparatory to the set- 
tlement of the other seven tribes ? 

6 



82 QUESTIONS ON 

3. Describe the situation of each tribe ? 

4. How many cities of refuge were provided, 
and where ? 

5. Inheritance of the Levites? How many- 
cities were given them ? 

6. What did the children of Reuben, Gad, and 
the half tribe of Manasseh, do when they crossed 
the Jordan ? Ch. xxii. 10. 

7. What did this nearly bring about, and how 
was it prevented '/ 

8. Subject of Ch. xxiii? 

9. Its encouragements, promises and warnings? 

10. Describe the place and circumstances of 
Joshua's dying address to Israel ? 

11. Its principal subjects ? 

12. What did Joshua mean in verse 19, and 
why did he say this ? 

13. What did he make as a witness of this sol- 
emn act of theirs ? How could a stone be a wit- 
ness ? 

14. What are you taught by all this of your 
duty and your helplessness ? 

15. Age, death and burial of Joshua '/ 

16. AVhat other man of the highest dignity in 
the nation lived and died about the same time 
with Joshua ? Who succeeded him ? 

17. What is.^aid of the bones of Joseph ? When 
was this done ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 83 

LESSON XLVIL 

PERIOD V. — FROM THE SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN TO 
THE NATIONAL SCHISM. 

JUDGES. 

1. Why is this book so called ? 

2. What was the nature of this office of Judge ? 

3. Of what period does this book give the 
history ? 

About three hundred years. 

4. What do we know of its authors or compiler ? 

Nothing positive. It is supposed to have been compiled 
by Samuel. 

5. General analysis of it ? 

1st. Sketches of Israel's history from the conquest until 
they fell into idolatry. Ch. i. 2d. Summary view of the 
whole history of the period of the Judges, with particular 
oppressions and deliverances. Ch. ii.-xii. 3d. History 
of Samson. Ch. xiii.-xvi. 4th. Narratives showing their 
early idolatry and wickedness. Ch. xvii.-xxi. 

6. What can you tell of the wars of Judah with 
Adonibezek ? 

7. What do we learn from this of the condition 
of the Canaanites ? 

8. What is said of the other tribes ? 

9. What admonition did God send them ? 

10. Give this summary view of the whole period? 
Ch. li.-iy. 

11. Nations left for the chastisement of the 
Israelites ^ 



84 QUESTIONS ON 

12. Give the leading facts of Samson's history? 

13. State the facts in regard to Micah ? 

14. Why did Dan have part of its settlement in 
the North? 

15. State briefly the chief facts that almost 
resulted in the destruction of the tribe of Benja- 
min ? 

16. To what part of the history do these inci- 
dents belong? Ch. xx. 28. 

17. "What portion of the time embraced by this 
book were the Israelites at peace, and what portion 
oppressed ? 



LESSON XLVIII. 



RUTH AND I SAMUEL. 

1. Kelation of the book of Ruth to the book of 
Judges ? Its probable author ? Its design ? 

2. Relate the story of Naomi and Ruth ? 

3. Names of the next four books ? 

4. Author of I Samuel ? 

5. Of what poriod does this book give the 
history ? 

6. Parentage, birth, and call of Samuel, and 
history of the death of Eli ? 

7. Character of Eli and his sons. Cause of God's 
anger ? 

8. Death of Eli, and accompanying events? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 85 

9. The ark among the Philistines ? 

10. The ark restored? I Sam. vi. 

11. Great revival of religion and victory ? I 
Sam. vii. 3-17. 

12. Samuel's government ? I Sam. vii. 13-17. 

13. A king desired and granted ? 

14. Saul anointed by Samuel ? 

15. Saul inaugurated ? 

16. War with the Amorites and kingdom con- 
firmed ? 

17. Samuel's public recognition? 

18. War with the Philistines? Their oppression, 
and victory of Jonathan ? 

19. Why was Saul rejected from being king? 

20. David anointed and introduced to- Saul ? 

21. David and Goliah? 

22. Jonathan's great love for David, and Saul's 
efforts to kill him. 

23. David's flio-ht to Achish and strang;e con- 
duct there ? 



LESSON XLIX. 



I SAMUEL XXII.-XXXI. AND II SAMUEL I.-IV. 

1. David at Adullam, and provision for his 
parents ? 

2. Saul's slaughter of the priests ? 



86 QUESTIONS ON 

3. To what other places was he driven during 
these continued persecutions ? 

4. His wonderful fear of God and trust in Him 
in twice sparing Saul's life ? 

5. What great man died during these persecu- 
tions ? 

G. David's final flight to Gath, Tiklag ? 

7. Next Philistine war ? Saul's extremity and 
conduct ? 

8. Next day's battle and its results ? 

9. Where was David, and what was he doing at 
this time ? 

10. David's wives now ? 

11. Leading topics of II Samuel? 

1st. David's reign in Hebron over Judah. Ch. i.-iv. 
2d. David's great prosperity and triumphs. Ch. v.-x. 
3d. David's sin and troubles. Ch. xi.-xxiv. 

12. Of what period does this book give the 
history ? 

David's reign : nearly forty years. 

13. David's noble conduct in reference to Saul 
and Jonathan ? 

14. David crowned in Hebron ? Over what 
tribe ? 

15. The other tribes? Abner and Ishbosheth? 

16. War between the two kingdoms, and its 
results ? 

17. Abner"s conduct and cruel fate "? David's 
behavior on this occasion ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 87 

18. Ishboslieth's death, and David's treiitment 
of his murderers ? 

19. How loncf did David rei<2n in Hebron ? 



LESSON L. 

DAYID's kingdom. — ABSALOI. — 11 SAM. V.-XVIII. 

1. The u^hole kingdom given to David ? Capi- 
tal removed ? 

2. Conquests over the Philistines ? 

3. Eemoval of the ark ? Failure of the first 
attempt ? Describe the second ? Ch. vii. See 
also I Chron. xiii., xv. and xvi. What Psalms did 
David vvrite to be used on this occasion ^ Ps. cv. 
1-15, and Ps. xcvi. See I Chron. xvi. 

4. David's purpose in regard to a house for 
God? God's message to him by Nathan and 
covenant with him, and David's thanksgiving ? 
(a.) What do these promises of God to David 
really include ? Acts ii. 39. Is not this chap- 
ter one of the most important and interesting in 
all these histories ? (b.) Name some Psalm in 
which he had special reference to these promises ? 
Ps. ii., Ixxii., Ixxxix. 19-37. What is the final 
reference in each of these ? {c.) Name some pas- 
sages of the New Testament referring to the same 
covenant ? Luke i. 32, 33 ; Acts ii. 29-36. {d.) 
Do the promises of God to David, in this chapter, 
control the whole history of this world to the end 
of time ? Ps. ii. 10-12 ; Daniel vii. 27. 



88 QUESTIONS ON 

5. David's sacceeding conquests and spoils ? 

Ch. Ylii. 

6. What can you tell of Tobah ? Hamath ? 
Syria ? Edom ? 

7. MephibosLeth ? Cli. ix. 

8. War with the Ammonites and its cause ? 
— Syrians? Ch. x. 

9. During this war, and in the midst of his 
prosperity, of what great sins was David guilty ? 

10. Nathan's message to him ? David's punish- 
ment ? Evidence of his repentance 1'^ 

11. Final result of the war with the Ammon- 
ites? 

12. Wicked conduct of Ammon, David's oldest 
son ? Absalom's vengeance ^t His flight ? Why 
did he flee to Geslian ^t 

13. Absalom's return home and restoration to 
favor ? 

14. His unnatural conspiracy and rebellion ? 
David's flight and attending circumstances? Where 
were the priests and ark ? What of Hushai? 

15. Incidents by the way ? Ziba ? Shimei ? 

16. Absalom's counselor ? His character as 
such ? How defeated ? His end ? 

17. Whither did David flee ? Where was that ? 
How was he received ? 

18. The battle, and Absalom's fate ? Lesson 
taught in regard to the conduct of children ? 

19. The king's grief? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 89 

LESSON LI. 

David's restoration. — II Sam. xix.-xxiv. 

1. How was David's restoration accomplished? 

2. Incidents of Sliimei ? Mephibosheth '? Bar- 
zillai •? 

3. Jealousy between the other tribes and Judah? 

4. Sheba's revolt and its suppression "^ Was 
this general or of only a small faction ? Situation 
of Abel ? 

5. What judgment did God afterwards send on 
the land, and why ? 

6. Touching conduct of Eizpah ? 

7. What did the law require ? Deut. xxi. 23. 
When did the famine cease 1:' 

8. Great victories over the Philistines ? Their 
eflects ? 

Nothing more is heard of them for one hundred and 
thirty years, until the wicked reign of Jehoram. II Chron. 
xxi. 16. 

9. Subject of Ch. xxii ? 

10. How does David here express his distress 
and helplessness ? Ch. xxii. 5-7. If you are not 
a christian, are you not in a still worse state ^ 

11. By what striking figure does he describe 
God's power in his deliverance ? Gh. xxii. 8-18. 

12. What great deliverance demands our praise? 

13. Subject of David's last words in Ch. xxiii ? 



90 QUESTIONS ON 

14. In v/hat other remarkable way was David's 
reign distinguished */ Number and exploits of those 
mighty men ? 

15. What other sin did David commit ? Ch. 
xxiv. 

16. By whom is he said to have been moved to 
do this, and why ? 

17. In what sense can God be said to move a 
man to do what is wrong ? 

18. May God often punish one sin by allowing 
it to lead to another ? 

19. What was the real sin of the people and of 
David ? 

Probably plans of aggression. 

20. How did God punish them ? 

21. What was David directed to do to arrest 
the pestilence. 

22. Where was this threshing floor, and to what 
purpose was it devoted that has made it one of the 
most famous spots on earth? I Cbron. xxii. II 
Chron. iii. 1. 



LESSON LII. 



LAST DAYS OF DAVID, AND FIRST TUBLIC ACTS 

OF Solomon's reign — I Kings i.-iii. 

1. Into what two parts may this book be 
divided ? 

I. History of Solomon's reign. II. History of the two 
kingdoms from the division to death of Jehoshaphat. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 91 

2. Of what period does it give the history ? 

3. Where are some portions of this history more 
fully given ? Ans. I and II Chronicles. 

4. Rebellion of Adonijah ? Its suppression ^ 
and Solomon's anointing ? 

5. David's last charge, as recorded in Ch. ii ? 

6. What further charge to him and to the 
princes in I Chron. xxii. 6-19 '^ 

7. In what very solemn way was this repeated 
again to the w^hole people and to Solomon ? I 
Chron. xxviii. 1-10. 

8. Preparations and contribution of David for 
the house? I Chron. xxii. 1-4; xxvii. 1-5. And 
of the chiefs and rulers ? I Chron. xxix. 6-9. 

9. David's thanksgiving and prayer on this oc- 
casion ? I Chron. xxix. 10-19. 

10. How^ did Dpvvid close this last great assembly 
of the people ? I Chron. xxix. 20-22. 

11. Justice visited upon Adonijah, Joab and 
Shimei ? 

12. Solomon's foreign marriage ? His wife's 
dowry ? 

13. His great oifering at Gibeon, poud remarka- 
ble dream ? 



14. Illustration of his wisdom and judgment 



?■ 



^2 QUESTIONS ON 

LESSON LIII. 

BUILDING AND CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE. 

I Kings v.-viii. 

1. Hiram? Tyre? Describe it. 

2. Solomon's contract with Hiram ? II Chron. ii. 

3. Men employed by Solomon in providing and 
preparing these materials '/ Why so many "/ II 
Chron. ii. 17, 18. 

4. How were these materials conveyed ? Chief 
architect ? 

5. When did he begin to build it ? Where ? 

6. Describe the temple ? 

7. Its size? Materials? 

8. How covered within and adorned ? 

9. Describe the porch ? The two pillars before 
it ? Their height, names, and meaning of these 
names. 

10. How was the temple divided ? Size and 
name of the inner apartment? 

11. How were the apartments separated? How 
surrounded on three sides ? 

12. What was especially remarkable in the 
building of the inner apartment ? 

13. What did Solomon make for the Most Holy 
Place ? 

14. Sacred vessels for the Holy Place and the 
courts ? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 93^ 

15. How long was Solomon in building the 
temple ? 

16. When finished what did he do, and for 
what purpose ? 

17. Describe the dedicatory service. 



LESSON LIV. 



PERIOD VI. — FROM THE NATIONAL SCHISM TO THE: 
CAPTIVITY. — THE NATIONAL SCHISM. 

I Kings ix.-xiv. II Chron. vii.-xii, 

1. What is the substance of the renewed cove- 
nant God now made with Solomon ? I Kings ix. 
1-9; II Chron. vii. 12-22. 

2. What other buildings did Solomon erect, and 
what w^ere his naval and military enterprises ? 
Ophir — where ? I Kings, ix. 15-28 ; II Chron. 
viii. 1-18. 

3. Sheba— where? Tell of the visit of it& 
Queen ? I Kings x. 1-13 ; II Chron. ix. 1-12. 

4. State outline of Solomon's revenues, retinnes, 
state, and length of his reign. I Kings, x. 14-29 ; 
II Chron. ix. 13-end. 

5. Give an account of his backslidings ? — their 
cause? — their chastisements? I Kings, xi. 1-25. 
Did he die a backslider ? Eccles. i. 12-18 ; ii. 1 ; 
xii. 13. 

6. What is the just estimate of Solomon's char- 
acter as compared with David's ? Who laid the real 



M QUESTIONS ON 

foundation for Israel's decline ? How reconcile 
this with I Kings iv. 30, 31 ? 

7. Give, more especially, the early history of 
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. I Kings xi. 26-40. 

8. Who succeeded Solomon'? Merely by heredi- 
tary right, or was Israel an elective monarchy ? I 
Kings xii. 1-7 ; II Chron. x. 1-7; II Sam. v. 1-3. 
''Made a league I " 

9. What caused the secession of the Ten Tribes? 
Which adhered to Rehoboam ? I Kings xii. 8-21 ; 
II Chron. x. 8-end, xi. 12. 

10. Was Rehoboam allowed bv God to coerce 
them? I Kings, xii 21-2-1; ir Chron. xi, 1-4. 
Did not God thus recognize the right of the tribes 
to protect their liberties by choosing their own 
form of government and connections ? II Chron. 
xi. 4. 

11. Whom did the Ten Tribes elect !^ Was his 
election constitutional ? Did the prophets ever 
blame him for being king, or only for his unlaw- 
ful measures related in I Kings xii. 25-33 ; II 
Chron. xi. 14, 15? 

12. What was the effect of Jeroboam's evil 
policy on the state of religion in the kingdom of 
the Ten Tribes ? Did it ever really recover ? II 
Chron. xi. 13-17, xxx. 10 ; II Kings xvii. 1-18. 

13. Give an account of the backsliding of Reho- 
boam and the kingdom of Judah, and its punish- 
ment. His end ? I Kings xiv. 21-31 ; II Chron. 
xi. 18, xii. 16. 

14. AVhere did Jeroboam fix his seat of govern- 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 95 

ment ? I Kings xii. 25. Give an account of 
God's warnings against his idolatry, and their 
small effect on him. I Kings xiii. 1-33. 

15. Eelate the chastisement God sent on Jero- 
boam for his wicked politics and idolatry in his 
own family, and the prophecies against his pos- 
terity. I Kings xiv. 1-20. 



LESSON LV. 



KINGDOM OF JUDxiH AND KINGDOM OF TEN 
TRIBES AT WAR. 

I Kings XV., xvi. II Chron. xiii.-xvi. 

1. Who succeeded Kehoboam in Judah ? Give 
an account of his short reign and war with Jero- 
boam. I Kings XV. 1-8 ; II Chron. xiii. 1-22. 

2. Calculate the length of Jeroboam's reign. 
Was it prosperous or wretched ? Was he not a 
man of great talents and popularity? What 
caused his calamities ? I Kings xi. 28, xii. 20, 
xiv. 19, 20. 

3. Who succeeded Abijam (or Abijah) as king 
in Judah ? His character ? Length of his reign t 
His religious reforms ? I Kings xv. 9-23 ; II 
Chron. xiv. 1-7, xv. 1-19. What effect had his 
piety on the prosperity of his reign ? 

4. Which w^as Asa's first war, and its success ? 
II Chron. xiv. 9-15. 

5. Eelate Asa's wars with the house of Jero- 



96 QUESTIONS ON 

boam and the kingdom of the Ten Tribes. I 
Kings XV. 16-24 ; II Chron. xvi. 1-14. 

6. Who succeeded Jeroboam? How long did 
he reign ? What was his end, and what prophecy 
was now accomplished ? I Kings xv. 25-34 ; 
II Chron. xvi. 1. 

7. Give the history of the reign and character 
of Baasha the usurper, Elah his son, and the end 
of that familv. What became of their murderer, 
Zimri ? I Kings xv. 33 to xvi. 20 ; II Chron. xvi. 
1-5. 

8. Relate the rise and founding of the family of 
Omri. Where did he fix his seat of government ? 
What was his conduct towards God ? I Kings xvi. 
21-28. 

9. Who succeeded Omri ? The character of his 
reign ? What unlawful marriage did he contract ? 
Its consequences ? I Kings xvi. 28-end. 

10. Who succeeded Asa in the kingdom of 
Judah ? Character of his reign ? I Kings xxii. 
41-46 ; II Chron. xvii. 1-9. 

11. What was the success of his reign as to the 
surrounding nations ? II Chron. xvii. 10-19, xx. 
1-30 ; I Kings xxii. 47-49. 

12. Give the history of Jehoshaphat's alliance 
with king Ahab. I Kings xxii. 1-36 ; II Chron. 
xviii. 1 to xix. 1. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 97 

LESSON LVI. 

THE MINISTRY OF ELIJAH, AC, IN VAIN TO RE- 
FORM THE KINGS OF THE TEN TRIBES. 

I Kings xviii.-xxii. II Cliron. xviii. 

1. From what place was Elijah ? What was 
his first message to Ahab? I Kings xvii. 1. 
Where was he sheltered from the king's anger and 
the famine ? Verses 3-16. 

2. What miracle was daily wrought for his 
preservation at Cherith ? At Sarepta ? I Kings 
xvii. 6, 14, 15. 

3. How was the poor widow rewarded for her 
faith and benevolence ? I Kings, xvii. 15-24. 

4. What was God's object in thus sending help 
to a heathen, and none to his own people ? Luke 
iv. 24, 25. 

5. Describe the severity of the drought. I Kings 
xviii. 1-6. 

6. How was its approaching end announced ? 
Describe the character and conduct of Obadiah. 
I Kings xviii. 7-16, 

7. W^hen Ahab met Elijah, what accusation did 
the king bring ? I Kings xviii. 17. Was it just? 
Verse 18. Do not bad men often blame God, or 
the truth, for evils which they themselves cause 
by resisting it ? 

8. What fair proposal did Elijah now make ? 
I Kings xviii. 19-24. Does it appear, after all, 
that the bulk of the people had heartily chosen 

7 



98 QUESTIONS ON 

Baal, or 'were undecided and timid? Verse 21. 
Did not this moral cowardice do nearly as much 
harm as actual apostasy ? 

9. What was the issue of the trial ? The effect 
on the people ? I Kings xviii. 25-39. 

10. Had Elijah a right to kill the 850 men ? 
Deut. xiii. 1-5 ; I Kings xviii. 40. \ 

11. Kelate the manner in which the drought 
ended. Effect of Elijah's prayer. How often re- 
peated ? I Kings xviii. 41-end ; James v. 17, &c. 

12. How was Jezebel affected ? What instance 
of Elijah's cowardice ? Whence does the courage 
of God's people come ? Eelate his concealment. 
I Kings xix. 1-16. 

13. What threefold commission did Elijah re- 
ceive at Horeh ? How executed ? I Kings xix. 
17-21. 

14. What cruel demands did Ben-hadad, king 
of Damascus, make of Ahab ? How was he de- 
livered ? What foolish error did he commit ? 
I Kings XX. 

15. Eelate the sin of Jezebel and Ahab, about 
Naboth's vineyard. What were their crimes in 
this case? Relate God's sentence on them by 
Elijah. Does this show the enormous wickedness 
of magistrates, set by God to defend right, when 
they use their office to do wrong ? I Kings xxi. 

16. Relate the war of Ahab and Jehoshaphat 
against Ramoth-gilead. The false predictions of 
success. What the providential object of these? 
I Kings xxii. 1-6 and 19-23 ; II Chron. xviii. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 99 

17. Relate the prophecy of Micaiah. How did 
Ahab treat him ? The event ? Did the stray 
arrow fulfill a prophecy ? What does this teach 
us of the extent of God's providence ? I Kings 
xxii. 14-40. 



LESSOX LYII. 



IDOLATRY AND CRIME PREVENTED IN BOTH KING- 
DOMS. — END OF AHAB'S HOUSE. 

II Kings i.-xiv. ; II Chron. xxi.-xxv. 

1. Who succeeded Ahab? I Kings xxii. 51-end. 
Give his character, end, and prophecy of Elijah 
about him. II Kings i. 18 ; II Chron. xx. 35. 

2. Give the history of the end of Elijah's min- 
istry. W^hy this honor? What the traits of the 
man, and his ministry ? Who succeeded him ? II 
Kings ii. 1-15; Luke i. 17 ; Matt. xi. 14 ; Luke ix. 
30-32. 

3. Who succeeded Ahaziah as King of the Ten 
Tribes, or Israel "? His character 'I Relate his 
joint expedition with Jehoshphat against Moab. II 
Kings iii. 1-33. 

4. Relate the miracles of Elisha : for the 
prophet's Vv'idow. II Kings iv. 1-17 — for the 
Shunemite and her son. Verses 8-37 — for the 
school of the prophets at Gilgal. Verses 38-44 
and Ch. vi. 1-7 — for Naaman, v. 1-27. 

5. Relate the war between the King of Israel 
and Jehoram, w4th the famine in Samaria, and its 
relief. II Kino;s vi. 8 to vii. 20, 



100 QUESTIONS ON 

6. Relate Elisha's visit to Damascus, and 
prophecy to Hazael. When was this fulfilled ? II 
Kings viii. 7-15 ; x. 32, 33. 

7. Who was appointed by God to execute the 
prophecies on Ahab's wicked house ? Relate the 
measures of Jehu the son of Nimshi. II Kings 
ix. 1 to X. 14. 

8. Relate also Jehu's religious reformations. 
Was he honest and thorough in them ? Length of 
his reign ? II Kings ix. 15-end ; II Chron xxii. 

7-9. 

9. W'ho succeeded good Jehoshaphat as King in 
Judah, and when ? Relate the events of his reign. 
Its length ? II Kings viii. 16-24 ; II Chron. xxi. 
1-20. 

10. Give the history of Ahaziah the son and 
successor of Joram in Judah. Length of his reign 
and manner of its end ? II Kings viii. 25-end ; 
II Chron. xxii. 1-9. 

11. Who was Athaliah? II Chron. xxi. 6 ; xxii. 
2 ; II Kings viii. 18. Relate her crime and its 
occasion. II Kings xi. 1-3 ; II Chron. xxii. 10-12. 

12. How was her crime avenged, and the king- 
dom restored ? Give the character of Joash, king 
of Judah, and his reign. II Kings xi. 4 to xii. 3 ; 
II Chron. xxiii. 1 ; xxiv. 3. 

13. Relate Joash's or Jehoash's measures for res- 
toring religion. His war with Hazael. His end. 
II Kings xii. 4-21 ; II Chron. xxiv. 4-27. 

14. Give a sketch of the character and reign of 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 101 

Amaziah, liis successor, in Judah. His war with 
the kingdom of Israel. Length of his reign ? II 
Kings xiv. 1-22 ; II Chron. xxv. 



LESSON LVIIL 



DECAY xiND DESTRUCTION OF THE KINGDOM OF 
ISRAEL, OR THE TEN TRIBES. 

II Kings, xiii-xvii. II Chron. xxviii. 

1. How many kings of Jehu's family reigned 
after him? Their names? The joint length of 
their reigns from Jehu's accession ? II Kings x. 
32-36, xiii. 1-9 ; xiv. 23-29, xv. 8-12. 

2. Describe the death of Elisha. II Kings xiii. 
14-end. 

3. Who was the next usurper in Israel after the 
death of Jeroboam 2d ? Length of his reign ? 
II Kings XY. 13-16. 

4. Who followed Shallum, and how? Give 
length of his reign. Character ? II Kings xv. 
14-22. 

5. What new enemy appeared on the stage 
during Menahem's reign ? What can you tell of 
the Assyrian empire and its capital ? II Kings 
XV. 19, 20. Prophecy of Jonah. 

6. Who succeeded Menahem ? Did this son 
reign long ? His murderer ? II King xv. 23-27, 

7. What were the two most important events in 
Pekah's reign, its character and length ? II 



102 QUESTIONS ON 

Kings XV. 27-31, xvi. 5-9. II Cliron. xxviii. 6-15 ; 
Isaiah vii. 1-9. 

8. Relate the usurpation and reign of Hoshea, 
the son of Elah. II Kings xv. 30, xvii. 1-6. 

9. Narrate now the final destruction of the 
kingdom of Israel, or the Ten Tribes. Who de- 
stroyed it ? To what countries were these Israel- 
ites carried ? What the cause of their ruin ? II 
Kings xvii. 3-6, 7-23 ; Amos ix. 1-10. 

10. Did these Israelites, or any of them, ever 
return to the Holy Land ? Ezra i. 3, 4. 

11. How was the desolated country of Samaria 
repopulated ? Were these people of pagan blood ? 
II Kings xvii. 24 ; Nehemiah iv. 1, 2. 

12. How did the Jews of true Hebrew descent 
regard these people, in Christ's day ? John iv. 
9, 20. How came this mongrel race to profess the 
Hebrew religion? II Kings xvii. 25-41. Has 
this species of religious profession ceased ? 

13. How many years from the secession of the 
Ten Tribes to their captivity under Shalmanezer ? 

About 297 vears. 



LESSON LIX. 

REVIVAL OF PIETY IN JUDAH. 

II Kings xv-xx. II Chron. xxvi-xxxii. Isaiah i. 
1, 2. Hosea i. 1. Amos i. 1. 

1. Give the character and exploits of Uzziah, 
who succeeded Amaziah. I Kings xv. 1-6 ; II 
Chron. xxvi. 1-16. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 103 

2. What was the length of his reign ? What 
effect had prosperity on liim ? His punishment ? 
II Chron. xxvi. 16-23. 

3. Who succeeded him ? Give the length, 
events and character of his reign. II Kings xv. 
32-36 ; II Chron. xxvii. 1-9. 

4. Who was his successor ? His character ? 
What was the chief event of his reign ? II Kings 
xvi. 1-9 ; II Chron. xxviii. 1-21 ; Isaiah vii. 1-16. 

5. Describe his apostasy, and its consecjuences. 
II Kings xvi. 10-20 ; II Chron. xxviii. 22-27. 

6. Who succeeded Ahaz ? His age ? How 
long did he reign ? Character ? II Kings xviii. 
1-7 ; II Chron. xxix. 1, 2. 

7. Relate the great religious reformation he 
made. The effects on the welfare of the nation ? 
The hrazen serpent ? II Chron. xxix. 3-36. II 
Kings xviii. 4. 

8. Give an account of his great Passover feast, 
of the invitation to the pious among the Ten 
Tribes, and its reception. Describe the restora- 
tion of the Temple service. II Chron. xxx., xxxi. 

9. What final event happened to the Ten Tribes 
in Hezekiah's fourth year ? II Kings xviii. 9-12. 

10. Give the cause and the events of the war of 
Senacherib and his Assyrians against Hezekiah. 
His deliverance. II Kings xviii. 7, and xviii. 13 
to xix. 37; II Chron. xxxii. 1-23; Isaiah xxxvi., 
xxx vii. 

11. Relate Hezekiah's subsequent sickness, and 
his relief in answer to prayer. His emotions 



104 QUESTIONS ON 

thereon? II Kings xx. 1-11; II Ohron. xxxii. 
.24 ; Isaiali sxxviii. 

12. What mistake did Hezekiah afterwards 
•commit ? What its threatened consequences ? 
II Kings XX. 12-21 ; Isaiah xxxix. What was 
the sin of Hezekiah's conduct here ? II Chron. 
xxxii. 25, 31. Is even the most eminent saint safe 
without grace ? 



LESSON LX. 

THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH FALLS BY ITS SINS. 

II Kings xxi.-xxv. II Chron. xxxiii.-xxxvi. Jere- 
miah xxxix. -xliii. and lii. 

1. Who succeeded Hezekiah? Character? 
Length of his reign'? II Kings xxi. 1-16; II 
Chron. xxxiii. 1-10. 

2. Relate Manasseh's chastisement and repent- 
ance. II Chron. xxxiii. 11-20. 

3. Relate the brief and wicked reign of Anion. 
II Kings xxi. 18-26 ; II Chron, xxxiii. 20-25. 

4. How old was his son Josiah at his accession ? 
Length of his reign ? Character ? II Kings xxii. 
1, 2. II Chron. xxxiv. 1-7. 

5. Relate the finding of the Book of the Law, 
and the reform of religion by him. II Kings xxii. 
3 ; xxiii. 25. II Chron. xxxiv. 8 to xxxv. 19. 

6. W^as the reformation effectual ? How did 
Josiah's reign end ? II Kings xxiii. 26-30. II 
Chron. xxxv. 20-27. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 105 

7. Who was Josiah's successor? By whom 
deposed ? Who succeeded him ? What was 
Jehoiakim's character ? II Kings xxiii. 31-37 ; 
II Chron. xxxvi. 1-5 ; Jer. xxxvi. 

8. What new and powerful enemy to Judah 
now appeared ? Can you give the history of this 
Empire ? What did he do to Jehoiakim and his 
8on ? II Kings xxiv. 1-16 ; II Chron. xxxvi. 
5-10. 

9. What is the date of this first carrying into 
captivity? Ans. 606 vears before Christ. Compare 
Jer. xxvii. 19-22 ; Ezek. i. 1-3 ; Daniel i. 1-4. 

10. What was the name of Zedekiah before his 
accession ? Who gave him the new name ? Its 
meaning ? Character of his reign ? II Kings xxiv. 
17-20;' II Chron. xxxvi. 10-13. 

11. How did Zedekiah provoke Nebuchad- 
nezzar ? II Chron. xxxvi. 13 ; Jer. lii. 3. Give 
an account of tbe siege and sack of Jerusalem. II 
Kings XXV. 1-21 ; II Chron. xxxvi. 17-21 ; Jer. 

lii. 4-27. 

12. Give the history of Jeremiah's persecutions 
during this calamity. Jer. xxxviii. 

13. How many captives were carried away at 
the successive invasions, and what was the date of 
the final captivity ? Jer. lii. 28-34. 

Eefore Christ 585 years. 

14. Did Nebuchadnezzar design to strip the land 
W'holly of inhabitants? How then was Gods 
prophecv of its utter desolation fulfilled ? Jer. xl. 
1, to xliii. 13 ; II Kings xxv. 22-26. 



106 QUESTIONS ON 

15. What was the real cause of the ruin of 
Judah? What lesson is here for other nations? 
Jer. xliv. 3-14 ; II Kings xxiii. 26, 27 ; II Chron. 
xxxvi. 14—17 ; Prov. xiv. 34. 



LESSON LXI. 



PERIOD VII. — FROM THE CAPTIVITY TO THE 
CHRISTIAN ERA. 

HISTORY OF THE CAPTIVITY. 

Book of Daniel. Ezek. i. Jeremiah xliv., and 
li. 19-end. Ezra i., ii. 

1. AVhat prophets were appointed by God to 
minister to the church in captivity ? Give the 
history of Daniel's youth. Daniel i. 1-21. 

2. What was the fate of the remnant that went 
to Egypt against Isaiah's commands? Jer. xliv. 
26-end. 

3. How did Daniel first gain distinction in Baby- 
lon as a prophet ? Give sketch of the interpreta- 
tion of the dream. Dan. ii. 31-48. 

4. Eelate Nebuchadnezzar's insane impiety in 
requiring worship for liimself. How were the 
three Jews refusing it delivered ? Show how God 
thus used providential means to spread the true 
religion. Dan. iii. 1-7 and 16-30. 

5. How did God punish Nebuchadnezzar for his 
impietv ? What warning was given him ? Dan. 
iv. 10-37. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 107 

6. Give an account of the capture of Babylon 
and couquest of the Chaldean Empire by the 
Medes and Persians. How had this been pre- 
dicted ? Isaiah xliv. 28 to xlv. 4 ; Jer. li. 19-44 ; 
Dan. V. ; II Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23. 

7. Who became king of the Medo-Persian Em- 
pire ? How long did he reign ? Dan. v. 31. 

He reigned two years. 

8. Who succeeded Darius ? How long did he 
reign ? II Chron. xxxvi. 22. 

He reigned seven years. 

8. Relate Daniel's courage and miraculous de- 
liverance under Darius. Dan. vi. 10-26. 

9. What was the most famous and important 
act of Cyrus, as effecting the captive Jews ? Its 
date ? How many years after the fall of Jerusa- 
lem ? See Chron. as above. 

Before Christ 535 years. 

10. How then was the captivity seventy years,, 
if the city was taken 585 years before Christ ? See- 
Lesson LX., Ques. 9th. 

11. Ptelate the return of the people under 
Jeshua and Zerubbabel ; the numbers returned,. 
their outfit, and their condition. Ezra i., ii. Did 
all the Hebrews in Cha^ldea return ? 



108 QUESTIONS ON 

LESSON LXIL 

RESTORATION OF THE JEWS' TEMPLE AND COMMON- 
WEALTH. 

Ezra iii.-viii. Book of Nehemiah. Book of Esther. 
Prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah. 

1. What was the first religious measure taken 
after their return ? Was the temple yet rebuilt ? 
When was it begun ? Ezra iii. 1-6, and 8-13. 

2. What interruption occurred '? How long did 
it last? Ezra iv. 1-5, and 6-24. 

3. State the series of kings of the Medo-Persian 
Empire, so as to understand the Bible Narrative. 

Darius I, 2 years ; Cyrus the Great, 7 ; Cambyses, (called 
Ahasuerus, verse 6,) 8; Smerdis, the usuper, (called 
Artaxerxes, verse 7, &c.) 6 months; Darius II, (called Hys- 
taspes, Ezra v. 5, and vi. 1,) 36; Xerxes, 21 ; Artaxerxes, 
(Longimanus) the Ahasuerus, who married Esther, 41 ; 
Darius III, called Nothus, 19 ; Artaxerxes Mnemon, 46 ; 
Ochus, 21 ; Darius IV^, 6, to Alexander of Macedon. 

4. What prophets encourged the Jews to rebuild 
the temple, and how did they get leave? Ezra v. 
1-17, VI. 1. 

5. Did the attempt of Tatnai then really result 
in helping the Jews ? Ezra vi. 2-end. 

6. When did Ezra go to Jerusalem, and how did 
he help the work and the Jewish Commonwealth ? 
Ezra vii. 1-8, 12, &c. ; viii. 32-end ; ix. 1, 2 ; x, 
1-5. 

Ezra went in the 7tli year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, 
458 years before Christ. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 10^ 

7. What had probably inclined this king to 
favor the Jews ? Esther ii. 16, 17. 

8. Detail the dreadful plot of Hainan against 
the Jews in the Persian and Median Empire, 
How was it arrested ? Esther iii.-ix. 

9. What important helper came to Jerusalem 
twelve years after Ezra ? Describe his mission 
and office. In what state did he find Jerusalem ? 
Nehemiah i, ii. 

10. What was Nehemiah's first measure ? What 
enemies harassed him ? Ch. iii, iv. 

11. W^hat oppressive abuses had grown up 
among the Jews ^t Nehemiah's reforms 'i Ch. v. 

12. Describe the religious reforms of Nehemiah 
and Ezra, and the institution of preaching to 
expound the Scriptures. Nehemiah viii. 1-8, and 
14-18 ; ix. 1-4 and 38. 

13. How did Nehemiah stock Jerusalem with 
inhabitants? Nehemiah xi. 1, 2. 

14. Describe the laws made to separate the Jews 
from the Pagans, and to honor the Sabbath. 
Nehemiah xiii. 1-3, 15-22, 23-28. 



LESSON LXIII. 

THE JEWS AFTER THE DAYS OF THE PROPHETS. 

(The student may consult " Prideaux's Connection " 
of Old Test, and New Test. History, and the 
Books of the Maccabees.) 

1. What was the form of government under 
which the Jews lived after Nehemiah's death ? 



110 QUESTIONS ON 

Under the Persian governor of Syria, with their own 
high priest as local chief magistrate. 

2. What great cliange took place in the year 
332 before Christ ? How did it effect Judea ? 

The Greeks, under Alexander of Macedon, conquered 
the whole Grecian Empire and Egypt. Jaddiia, high 
priest of the Jews, submitting, received favorable terms. 

3. What famous city did Alexander then found 
in Egypt ? 

Alexandria ; and he gave the Jews citizenship in it, 
•which they enjoyed till Christ. 

4. At Alexander's premature death, eight years 
after, what became of his great empire ? 

According to Daniel's prophecy (Cli. xi. 4), it was 
divided, after three years's reign of his weak brother 
Philip, between four Greek generals, out of which grew 
the kingdoms of Macedonia, Svria, Asia Minor, and 
Egypt. 

5. To which of these did the Jews belong ? 

Lying betw^een Syria and Egypt, Judea was sometimes 
under one and sometimes the other, but finally fell to 
Syria, under the Macedonian king called Seleucidae, from 
Seleucus. 

6. What literary effect did the Macedonian con- 
quests have y 

It made the Greek language prevail in Asia and Egypt, 
and thus led to the Greek translation of the Old Testa- 
ment called the Septuacf int. 

7. What fable is told as to the origin of this 
version ? What the true account ? 

That Ptolemy Philadelphus sent for seventy translators, 
who, wTitiug in separate cells, miraculously agreed to a 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. Ill 

letter. In fact, it was made for the convenience of the 
manj Jews living in Alexandria and using the Greek 
language. 

8. Hov; was Judea governed under the kings of 
Syria ? 

Till the death of the High Priest Siraon the Just, 291 
years before Christ, that officer was chief magistrate under 
the Syrian king. Afterwards the Senate (Sanhedrim) 
had a scribe, or doctor of the law, for its president. 

9. Who was the great persecutor of the Jews ? 

Antiochus II, called Epiphanes, who, reconquering 
Judea from Egypt, enforced idolatry and profaned the 
temple. 

10. What great hero appeared as the deliverer 
of the Jews, B. C. 168 ? 

Mattathias the Priest, and especially his son Judas, 
called Maccabeus, who, with bis brothers, took up arms, 
and, against great odds, at last made Judea independent. 

11. Give the history of the Asmonean dynasty 
in Judea. 

This was the family of Judas and his brothers, so called 
from their progenitor, Asmon. Simon, brother of Judas, 
was first prince after Judas' death. 

12. HoAv many princes or kings of this line suc- 
ceeded each other '^ 

Simon, John Hyrcanus, Aristobulus, Alexander Jan- 
naeus, Alexandra his widow, Aristobulus II, Hyrcanus 
II, and Antigorus. The dynastv extends from the vear 
166 to 38 before Christ. 



112 QUESTIONS ON 

LESSON LXIV. 

the jews after the days of the profhets 
(concluded.) 

1. Did the Jewish people ever relapse again into 
general idolatry after the captivity in Babylon ? 

No. That lesson cured them, with the indignation 
excited by the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes, and 
the brave example of the Maccabees. 

2. Explain the circumstances out of which the 
profession of Doctors of the Law (of Moses) grew? 

The people lived in Chaldea so long that the young 
knew only the Chaldean language, and the genuine 
Hebrew became about as much a dead language to them 
as the Anglo-Saxon to us. See Neh. viii. 8. Hence, 
first : the use of versions or paraphrases of the Old Tes- 
tament into Chaldee — and later, Syro-Chaldaic and 
Greek ; second : of a class of scholars who professed to 
know both the sacred and the common languages, and to 
expound the Hebrew Old Testament. 

4. "Who were the Scribes or Writers ? 

The same, for they not only taught but wrote out copies 
of the Old Testament, and especially of the Law of Moses. 

5. What were the "Traditions" of the Elders, 
or Rabbis ? 

These Doctors, (or Scribes) to increase their own au- 
thority, pretended that Moses had left oral teachings, 
besides the written Scriptures, explaining or adding to 
them, some of which were more important than these, and 
that they were handed doivn through the other prophets to 
Ezra, and from him to the Scribes. 

6. Are these "Traditions" now extant? 

Yes. In a book called " Talmud ;'^ and they are, as our 
Savour said, foolish, false and mischeivous. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 113 

7. What famous sects arose out of them? 

About 265 years before Christ, a party rejected the Oral 
Traditions, holding only the written law. From one of 
their leaders, Sadoc, they were called Saducees. But they 
also denied a future life and rewards and punishments. 

8. What was the opposite sect called? 

Pharasees (or Separatists, or Puritans). They held to 
the traditions, believed in predestination and future life, 
but were very scrupulous and self-righteous, while the 
Saducees became loose and worldly. Hence the ignorant 
masses thought the Pharisees much more pious. 

9. When and how did the iVsmonean line lose 
its independence ? 

The Romans, having conquered the kingdom of Syria, 
the Jewish factions applied to Aristobulus II to interfere, 
and he then made war against them ; whereon they, under 
Pompey the Great, conquered Jerusalem, 63 years before 
Christ. The Asmonean princes were thence tributary to 
the Romans. 

10. Who succeeded Antigonus the Last ? 
Herod the Great ; 37 years before Christ. 

11. Who was Herod? 

An Edomite by birth, who joined the .Jewish church as 
a proselyte ; an ambitious usurper, who played courtier 
with Anthony and Octavius, the usurpers at Rome, and 
got them to appoint him tributary king. 

12. What became of the Asmoneans ? 

Herod subdued Antigonus by arms, and Anthony, 
Herod's patron, beheaded him. Herod then marries 
Mariamne, the granddaughter of both kings Aristobulus 
and Hyrcanus II. He then murders Aristobulus, her 
brother, and her mother, so as to have no Asmonean rival. 



114 OLD TESTAMENT HISTOKY. 

13. What was Herod's character ? 

Able, energetic, wicked and cruel. He murdered his 
own wife. 

14. What work did Herod undertake, to recon- 
cile the Jews to his government ? 

He splendidly rebuilt the temple, beginning seventeen 
years before Christ. The preparations and additions oc- 
cupied, in all, forty years. 

15. Who succeeded Herod the Great? 

The year after Jesus was born, Archelaus in Judea, 
Herod Antipas in Galilee, and Herod Philip in Tracho- 
niiis, &c. 

16. What was the close of the Jewish kingdom? 

Archelaus, after ten years, was deposed by Augustus 
Ciiesar for his crimes, and Judea was reduced to a province, 
under a Roman procurator. (The procurators for the next 
twenty-five years were : 1, Coponius ; 2, Ambivius ; 3, 
Valerias Gratus : 4, Pontius Pilatus.) 

THE END. 



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